Let's Play "Rule The Waves" w/ Steve's Custom Country "Cascadia"

[Steve]

July 1919

The Shepard is commissioned.

The US Government offered compensation for the plans developed by the Navy for quadruple turrets. The offer was approved.



New power training and elevation gear continued to elude design teams. Further difficulties in Naval Ordnance held up new fuzes with improved reliability.

Progress was made, however, in newer high capacity batteries for submersibles.








The Kaiden is delayed.



The end of the war continued to reap dividends in Cascadian society. The number of worker stoppages from strikes and other forms of social upheaval were virtually disappearing from public life. It was a boring time to be a Socialist, for much of the country seemed to be enjoying a Golden Age, with prices going down and wages on the rise. Cascadian economic influence in China had become second only to Britain's, and even there it seemed that the Cascadians would challenge the British lead soon.

Unrest at 0

The Aurora was brought into the yards for reconstruction work.


August 1919

The submersible Narwhal, replacement for a similar ship sunk by the Germans in the North Sea, joined the fleet, as did the destroyers Williams and Hackett.





Work would need to be completely restarted on building a new computer machine for synthetic fire control computer. New batteries with increased capacity for submersibles were finished and readied for implementation into the fleet.





The Pressley was delayed at the yard.



The Naval Base at Tsingtao was expanded to accommodate the increasing role of the Cascadian Navy in Chinese waters. The Japanese Government issued a slight protest, insisting the expansion of Cascadian naval capability so close to their home waters was an unnecessary provocation.



The cruisers Seattle and Esquimalt were brought in for refitting.


September 1919

The Stingray and the six new minesweepers were commissioned.

More refits were completed. Champion, Reprisal, and Vancouver left the yards.



The Marine Nationale paid generously for new plans, these for improved long-wise framing on ships.



Artemis went to the yards for reconstruction.

Two more submersibles were ordered as part of the 1919 construction plan.


October 1919


At the beginning of the month, a delegation from Hungary arrived in Moscow. The remaining Hungarian nationalists informed Lenin their army couldn't remain in the field. Desertion from soldiers who wanted to return to homes in occupied territory was rife, the Germans and Romanians had rolled up their left flank in Transylvania, and the Soviet forces falling apart in Poland meant no relief from that end. If the Soviets couldn't pour another large army into the fighting, they had no choice but to seek peace.

But there was no army to give. Trotsky was successfully holding east of Warsaw, and Stalin had led the army in the South to repel a Romanian-German attempt on Odessa, but with the increased internal security need and Japanese forces massing in Manchuria, Lenin had nothing to spare. He attempted to get the Hungarians to agree to a partisan campaign, to make Hungary unoccupiable until the Soviet forces could rally.

The Hungarians left Moscow broken men. A wire was sent to the Hungarian delegation in Paris, asking them to seek terms.

The terms from Franz Ferdinand had hardened. Hungary would sign over half of their territory west of the Danube to direct Austrian rule, to compensate Austria for Galicia-Lodomeria. Slovakia, Croatia, and Bohemia-Moravia would be recognized as equal partners in a new federal imperial organization, the Danubian Imperial Federation. Hungarian authorities would pay reparations. In exchange, Franz Ferdinand, as King of Hungary, would pardon the nationalists and allow them to sit in the Diet if they gave loyalty oaths.

The Hungarians had obvious hate for the terms. British officials commented to the Foreign Office that the Emperor had let vindictiveness get in the way of sober judgement. But for Hungary, to fight on would invite occupation and far harsher terms, as victory seemed unlikely for Soviet Russia either. It was facing Germany and Austria already, it had to deal with the Finns and other nationalities demanding independence, and the Japanese and Cascadians were potential foes in the Far East. The Cascadian prospects further soured when Admiral Garrett, in an interview with the Post-Intelligencer - listed the Soviets as one threat that the Navy had to be ready to face.



France tensions to 3, Russia at 6


The writing was on the wall for the Hungarians. They accepted the terms on October 18th. Hungarian forces put down their guns a day later while the Soviet troops withdrew past Debrecen into Soviet territory. The Austro-Hungarian Civil War was over. With it would come Franz Ferdinand's new experiment in federalism, and whether or not it would function in the polyglot structure of the Empire.


The Daniels, Moreau, and Adams were commissioned.





The Constitution-class battleships were sent to the yards for refit.

Constitutions up for refit


The Garrett House
West Portland, Oregon
25 October 1919


It was, for Admiral Garrett, the remaining bright spot to his weekly routine. Saturday was the day that Sophie came over for dinner. Seeing his little girl, now a grown woman of learning and society, gave him something beyond the Navy and the difficult task of raising a defiant 15 year old.

The three were at the table together, a pot roast and other portions spread among them, and they quietly dined on the culinary talents of Mrs. Laurie.

But there was something in the air. The Admiral felt like Sophie was nervous. This worried him and, inevitably, he looked to her and said, "You needn't be silent on what's bothering you, Sophie. I'm here to talk."

Sophie finished a mouthful of food and sighed briefly. "I know, Papa. But I am afraid of hurting you."

To that he smiled gently. "I know. But it would hurt me to think you couldn't talk to me."

She didn't seem quite convinced. But after another couple of bites and a drink of wine Sophie finally relented. "Have you heard of Professor Theodore Walters, Father?"

"He is that historian at the National University," came the reply. "Before the war he interviewed me for a book he was writing on the Great North American War."

"Yes. 'The Southern Cause'." Sophie nodded. "I was in his class for a few terms, and I admit to have become a favorite student." She nearly took another bite, but stopped herself. If she drew this out, she might lose her nerve. "He is going to Europe after New Year's to research original sources on the Congress of Vienna. He asked me to accompany him as his research assistant."

The Admiral set his utensil on the table quietly. "I see," he managed. "How long?"

"A year, maybe two," she said. "Perhaps longer. It all depends on the budget the University provides for him, and if he can make any additional funds lecturing in Europe. He's already agreed to a lecture series on 19th Century North American history at Oxford this coming spring. That's why he needs me to come along, I can focus on research for the book while he handles other matters."

"And he can't find anyone else?" The question was sullen in its chillyness.

"He might, but Papa… I am the first he asked, and the opportunity…" Sophie's face beamed. "I would be assisting him in writing the book, Papa. The experience alone would… it would give me the grounding to begin my own works. And I have never been able to see Europe before."

Gabriela looked at her older sister with a mix of sadness and envy. Wordlessly she glanced toward her father.

When he spoke, it was with a tone trying desperately to be supportive. "Well, if it will help you along, I cannot be against it. Let me know if you need anything for the trip."

Sophie smiled at that. "Thank you, Papa! I'll make you proud."

He nodded at that, and tried not to notice the fuming look on Gabriela's expression.


November 1919

The Donnelly and Kaiden came out of the dockyard and joined the fleet.

The Sovereign and Richland finished reconstruction.





The Japanese Navy approached Cascadian authorities about permission to license the new higher-capacity submersible batteries being installed in the latest submersibles. Although some in the Admiralty balked at the suggestion, desire to maintain amicable relations with Japan led the Foreign Secretary push for the Admiralty's acceptance, and it was given.



With the refit plan proceeding and partially completed, Admiral Garrett presented to Naval Secretary Santiago the Office of Naval Design and Procurement's final design for the next group of Cascadian warships. The Intrepid-class battlecruiser would be of equivalent size to the Titan-class ships. A massive machinery plant would give it a flank design speed of 31 knots. 10" belt armor, 3" deck, and 14" conning tower armor would give it acceptable protection for a battlecruiser. The armament would be nine of the new 16" naval rifles in three triple turrets, sixteen 5" guns in eight dual turrets, and 16 4" deck guns. And improved torpedo defense system would improve the ship's survivability against enemy torpedoes.

The design was approved. At the end of the month, the new Intrepid was laid at Bremerton.







December 1919

New orders from South America helped to spur on a dock expansion at Hunter's Point.



The Pressly was commissioned.

The Seattle and Esquimalt finish reconstruction work.




Relations with Washington took another blow when Cascadian Socialist Representative Howard Seagall of San Francisco, attending a meeting of Great North American War veterans, denounced the United States' inability to protect racial minority groups from "savage and unequaled oppression", denouncing segregation as "the work of a diseased mind". The US Ambassador protested the remarks and prevailed on the House to censure the remarks, but the House refused to be dictated to on the matter.

When the news was reported in the US, the Southern states erupted in outrage at the insult, and many in the other states were also quick to take offense at Seagall's remarks. Numerous editorials denounced the attack on the justice of the American system - cruder critics, South and North, derided Seagall as a "racial agitator" looking to spur trouble among the non-white populace.

US tensions to 3

The Interceptor was laid to be the second Intrepid-class battlecruiser.


At the beginning of the month, the German Socialists struck. Under the direct of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemberg, Socialist agitators and organizers started a general strike. The demand on the government was an immediate cessation of hostilities, the return of all Soviet-held land to Lenin's government, and a new set of social and political reforms aimed at crushing the power of the remaining German nobility and upper classes.

With needed supplies to the front in critical danger, the government recalled troops to restore order.

This gave Trotsky the opening he needed. The Red Army lunged with a vicious winter offensive to reclaim Polish territory and drive the Germans from East Prussia. All along the front the exhausted, cold German troops were facing the bulk of Russia's remaining reserves, thrown in one last effort to drive the Germans back.

It seemed to work. For nearly three weeks the Soviets battered their way across frozen trenches, securing bridgeheads over the Vistula and the Bug. Just a few days before Christmas Warsaw was nearly surrounded, and it looked like the Red Army would be triumphant.

But the Germans and the Poles held on. On Christmas Day, 1919, Pilsudski's Nationalist Polish Army smashed out of the encirclement alongside the German 4th Army, while outside of it the 2nd Army forced its way inside the Russian ring. The counter-attack developed into a full-blown counter-offensive, overseen by Feldmarschall August von Mackensen, that caught Trotsky's forces along the flanks and forced them to flee Warsaw. By New Year's Day the city was safe once again. The dramatic turn of fortune would be forever remarked as the "Miracle on the Vistula".

[Steve]

January 1920

The submersibles Porpoise and Pike were commissioned.

The Champion came out of the dockyards with a complete refurbishment.



With the Presidential election looming, Secretary of State Burgess prevailed on Lakeland and the Foreign Department to restrain Peru, now in a row with Bolivia.



Meanwhile Cascadian refusal to join Japan in pressuring the Soviets won them a slight improvement in relations with the regime in Moscow.

The Soviets needed the break. The Miracle on the Vistula was immediately followed by a short German offensive in the south. The lines broke and over two divisions of Russian troops ended up trapped in thee port of Odessa, which was placed under siege. In the center the fighting continued on for most of the month, ending only with a snow-storm late in the month that caused both armies to take to their trenches. At the cost of thousands of casualties, the Germans and their Polish auxiliaries had thrown Trotsky back nearly to Minsk.

In Germany, the Socialist strikes ended with the arrests of Liebknecht and Luxemburg, and the use of force in Berlin, Essen, and Dresden that resulted in 20 dead workers and over a hundred wounded on all sides. The SDP was forced to disavow the two agitators to avoid being outlawed. The government had bought itself time, but only just; if it failed to make peace by 1922, things could get worse.

Russia tension to 4

Experts reported to the Admiralty a final determination in new, improved armor testing methods, promising a superior quality to Cascadian naval armor to come about as a result. Additionally, Naval Artillery confirmed that improved machinery for turret training and elevation had been completed, allowing a faster rate of fire for guns up to eight inches caliber.





The decision was made in the Admiralty to order another refitting of the 20 year old Hull-class destroyers. New machinery and director firing would be installed into the ships, which would be used as a dedicated anti-sub and coastal patrol force in future wars.







Pacific Union Station
Portland
17 January 1920


The families had come up from the Bay Area to see Sophie off. She and Professor Walters - a man nearly twenty years older with a thick bushy mustache of dark brown that matched the hair on his head, piercing blue intelligent eyes rounding out his appearance - would be taking the rail line east to New York City and a Cunard liner, the grand majestic Titanic, across to England. Sophie was in her finest, a dark green dress jacket over a white frilled blouse and a matching dark green dress to her ankles. Walter was somber in his black-and-gray suit.

Georgia was holding her newborn baby, Rachel, with Raffie beside her. Thomas' children were gathered in admiration of their cousin, while Anne-Marie kept them in line roughly. Gabriela was distant and disappointed.

The Admiral kept an even tone. "I have arranged an expense account for you through the Bank of the Northwest," he noted. "I know the Professor is paying you. Consider this a reserve fund."

"Of course, Papa."

Sophie hugged her eldest brother next. Rafael was in civilian wear and thus did not have the Lieutenant Commander rank insignia he had achieved in December. He'd been assigned to Bremerton in the offices of the base there. His money had gone to securing a house in the city for Georgia and little Rachel, whom Sophie next planted a little forehead kiss on. "Take care," Raffie insisted.

"Do write," added Georgie.

Thomas took a hug next. "When you get back, I may be here to meet you as well," he said. "The Liberal Party has asked me to run for Parliament, the seat for the Vallejo district in Upper California."

"I look forward to reading the papers on your win, brother," she said.

Sophie said goodbye to her nephews and niece, to Anne-Marie, and to Gabriela, who forced a smile to her face. The Admiral gave her an extra final hug before, with bag in hand, Sophie boarded the train beside her employer.

And the Admiral watched them go with a heavy heart. With only Gabbie left in his home, his children all away to govern their own lives, and with Rachel gone… he had almost nothing left. Nothing but duty.




February 1920

The Constitution-class ships finished reconstruction work.



New weight-saving methods were developed for use in future designs. Simnel & King reported completion of a new advanced superheater for ship machinery.





Another Polynesian unity conference in Honolulu sparked a fresh series of protests from Paris. Many Frenchmen frowned upon the unwillingness of Cascadia to force the Hawai'ians and Samoans to be "more respectful" of French authority in Polynesia.

In London, a new General Election was underway, and the Conservatives were making gains on the issue by attacking the Cascadians as opportunists.

France tension up to 4. UK to 1.


1920 was a Presidential election year. It promised to be a wide open field with Lakeland being required to leave. Burgess was the first to announce his intentions to run as the Liberal candidate. The Democrats put up Sullivan again.

The choice proved dangerous for the Conservatives. The party's moderate branch were ready to run a joint ticket with Burgess but the archconservatives had become irritated by their party's years of coalition with the Liberals, whom they deemed too willing to work with social radicals. The Populists seemed a better bet for coalition work, and Conservative Representative Alec Karther of Alberta proposed endorsing Jake Roberts in a run for the Presidency.

Sullivan would prove to be a powerful foe for either man: Charleton's Communists were defiantly refusing to run a mutual campaign with the Socialists. Charleton himself would run on a campaign of "employing the powers of the Executive, in conjunction with the democratic power of the workers, to dismantle the system of exploitation that has gripped our country." The Conservatives openly called for the outlawing of the Communists as a result of this avowed plank.

Charleton's chances of winning were minimal, but the diversion of Socialist votes would certainly doom any Socialist candidate as well. With that in mind, Senator Flagg persuaded the Socialist Party to focus upon the provinces and Parliament in the upcoming 1921 election. The Socialists would not run a candidate, turning the campaign into a four-way match between Burgess, Sullivan, Roberts, and Charleton.


March 1920

The Navajo and Bakersfield finished reconstruction.



Captain John Linney, the Cascadian naval attache in Tokyo, was caught by Japanese security with sensitive naval files in his case. Linney's case won attention in Cascadia, where he was hailed as a hero. The incident contributed to the growing friction between Portland and Tokyo.



Naval Ordnance reported that work was being finalized on a new, improved fuze for shells.



Naval Artillery reported that they could order the construction of 17" naval guns if the Admiralty desired.



The third Intrepid-class battlecruiser, Illustrious, is laid.




April 1920

The submersibles Mako and Nautilus are commissioned.

The Superb leaves the dockyard. The rebuilding of the Hull-class destroyers also finishes. The destroyers are immediately relegated to the mothball years, to be activated as needed to face potential war.



Naval Ordnance reports two more advancements have completed testing: superior explosives for torpedo warheads and more reliable fuzes for naval shells. Rear Admiral Clyde Kennelly of Naval Ordnance also informs Admiral Garrett and the other leading members of the Admiralty of new developments in shell dyes that could be available soon.







The Ranger is sent in for refitting with new firing director gear and other advancements.


In Tokyo Ambassador Harling wired to Portland that several leaders of the Japanese Diet were proposing new military spending to counter Cascadia's growing power in East Asia. "The Japs are still sore about Port Arthur," Harling noted in his wire. "And seeing us snap up Germany's Pacific holdings has them itching for something of their own."

Japan tension to 4

Two more submersibles were ordered to maintain the pace of upgrading the submersible fleet..


May 1920

The Aurora, Walla Walla, and Stockton finished their reconstruction.





Naval Ordnance reported the successful test deployment of shell dyes. It is expected that the dyes will make gunnery more accurate through tracking which shots are by which ships and guns more easily.




The month opened with what became the final offensive of the Soviet-German War. The German Republic's leadership knew this would be the last push; the British deferment of reparations was unlikely to survive the next British election cycle and the populace, while no longer starving, where exhausted by the years of war. If the war lingered into 1921 there was no guarantee they could continue it.

The offensive erupted all along the Eastern Front. In the south, German and Romanian troops launched a fresh assault on the Russian siege lines at Odessa. Austro-German forces lunged east from Hungary toward Kiev. The Germans, with Pilsudski's small army, also launched two offensives north of the Pripet Marshes, one aimed into Lithuania toward Riga and the other plunging eastward toward Minsk.

Between the experiences of the Great War of 1908-1910 and the prior years of fighting, the Germans had perfected a set of stormtrooper tactics to deal with the Russian trenches. They were aided by a singular development: the support of Lakeland had allowed the Germans to purchase a license for the Mk. 2 Armored Tractor. The Cascadians - and later the English speaking world as a whole - had taken to calling the lumbering metal vehicles "Tanks". The Germans adopted a different name for them: Panzerkampfwagen, or "Panzer" for short.

The Russians had not been idle. Trotsky had recruited even among the old Tsarist officer corps, and the soldier soviets had been temporarily suspended to prevent the delays in operations that they had once caused. But the Red Army had shot their bolt the prior year in the offensive against Warsaw. Their strength to resist was diminished; it would take all of Trotsky's efforts to keep them from losing Byelorussia and the Baltics.


June 1920

The Admiralty approved a request to license reduction gears to Newport News.



The fourth and last Intrepid-class battlecruiser, Indefatigable, is laid.



The Admiralty continues its long-term plan for the enlarged submersible fleet by ordering two more of the craft.


After nearly a month off renewed fighting, Odessa fell on the 10th. Under fire from the Romanian Navy, the Black Sea Fleet managed to evacuate the last defenders, including Stalin himself. The fleet brought them back to Sevastapol.

The German southern armies, with their Romanian allies, resumed marching across the Black Sea Coast. There was simply no defensible terrain to anchor a strong defensive point. The main defense in the south was the space: German and Romanian troops had many miles to march to get anywhere in the plains of the Ukraine, and Stalin had enough time to get his troops reorganized and back into action.

Across the vast spaces of the front the Central armies continued to advance, but slowly. With a combination of brutality and sheer energy, Trotsky kept the Red Army's discipline up and supported local counter-attacks that dragged the fighting on.

[LaCroix]

Interesting developments, and a lot of drama. Well done.

I know that there will be some more, concerning Gabriela. Most likely, she will run off and become a Communist or something.

[Steve]

Interesting developments, and a lot of drama. Well done.

I know that there will be some more, concerning Gabriela. Most likely, she will run off and become a Communist or something.

Considering it's the 1920s, it's entirely possible what she ends up doing is worse than becoming a Communist.

[Steve]

July 1920

The Hammerhead and Barracuda are commissioned for the submersible force.



The Artemis leaves the yards after a successful refit.



Naval designers report they are able to employ above water torpedo tube mounts on any ship in the fleet.




July sees the formal launch of the Presidential campaign. Lakeland initially refuses to endorse any candidate, although he does outright declare that if he had his way Charleton would be "behind bars, not a podium". Charleton, in a speech to cheering Communist Party faithful in Boise, returned the compliment with the exact same wording.

He needed the bravado. Unknown to Charleton, one of his secretaries, Daniel Lewis, had become disenchanted with the movement. He was leaking to the government papers on the election strategy as well as correspondence between the Soviet Embassy and Charleton. It was soon clear that the Cheka were involved with Charleton, including financing of his campaign and of Communist Party electoral activities. He was arrested on July 28th after a political rally in Seattle; the charges were leveled under the 1894 Electoral Reform Law that banned receiving direct financial support from foreign sources. He appealed the decision, proclaiming it an attempt to deny the Communist Party its shot at the Executive Office, but his protests fell on deaf ears. He would remain on the ballot but campaigning would be done by Party faithful while he remained in prison.

Meanwhile Sullivan was clearly in the lead. The arch-doves of the Liberal Party regarded Burgess as a damp squib who would lead the country into another war over China. They backed Sullivan, as did the Socialists, while the Conservatives were split between the moderates supporting Burgess and the archconservatives backing the Populist party. It was clear that it was Sullivan's race to lose.


In Eastern Europe, Wilno/Vilnius fell to Polish troops on the German flank. Trotsky evacuated his troops from the territories west of the city and decided to make a stand on the Latvian border.






August 1920

The Warrior finishes her reconstruction, including refitting of her guns with brand new 12" models of superior quality to her original battery.



Due to increasing tensions with Japan, a shore battery of 14" guns was ordered constructed in Kiautschou Bay at Tsingtao. The improved defenses are intended to give the Cascadian Navy a strong position in the Yellow Sea.

The British government protests the decision, with several Foreign Office officials and MPs accusing the Cascadian Government of blatant scaremongering of the Japanese.

Despite this, Admiral Garrett maintains the reduced activity level of the fleet, saving up money needed elsewhere.



Reserve Fleet status maintained

UK tension to 2


In what would become the last gasp offensive of the war, the Germans and Poles successfully took Minsk and Kiev after most of the month was spent in fighting.

But even as the Soviets were clearly crumbling, it was obvious the Germans were out of strength too. Two years of war-time work hadn't been enough to repair the economic damage of the Anglo-Cascadian blockade. The looming reparations were extravagant and were spooking investors in the German economy. Austria-Hungary, soon to become the Danubian Imperial Federation, was deep in debt and faced with rebuilding large areas of Hungary, not to mention the loss of Transylvania to the Romanians.

To make matters worse, the French were now threatening Alsace. New elections had brought increased Assembly seats to the Socialists who, in conjunction with the revanchists, were willing to go to war with the Germans for the twin issues of recovering Alsace and off saving the first "Worker's Democracy" in the world.

In Germany, the leadership of the Republic conceded that the nation needed peace. They sent a peace offer to the Soviets via Sweden, allowing for status quo lines to be drawn. Germany agreed to a neutral Poland if the Soviets confirmed their border, and to withdraw back to the Dneister in the south. The gains of Germany's allies could not be forgotten, but Germany would claim no more from the peace.

It remained to be seen if the Soviets would accept.






September 1920

A reliable hydrostatic pistol is developed for the submersible-hunting force.



The sub Swordfish is laid.


At first, the Soviets were willing to fight on. Trotsky was convinced that the repression campaigns of 1919 had suppressed nationalist aspirations in the rest of the Soviet Union, and that the Germans would break and fall into a Communist revolution if the war persisted into 1921 or 1922. His arguments were initially convincing to Lenin, who countered the German offer with a Soviet one that essentially imposed a status quo antebellum peace - unacceptable given the lines on the map. The prospect of French entry into the war added to Trotsky's argument and made Lenin unwilling to listen to others urging peace.

This backfired halfway through the month. On September 18th, Carl Mannerheim and other Finnish nationalists landed in Helsinki - supported by the German Fleet - and proclaimed a Finnish Republic. Five divisions of Finns and Swedish volunteers, trained and armed by Germany, were landed over the next few days. The Soviets had denuded the area of troops to fight in the Baltics; the divisions on hand were poorly-equipped and led, and Finnish soldiers would desert and defect before fighting. By the end of the month much of southern Finland had been secured and Mannerheim's troops, with German reinforcement, were advancing north and east toward Vyborg.






October 1920

Relations with Great Britain are smoothed over by diplomatic discussions with Ambassador Hawtley.

UK tension to 1


The Soviets were holding in the East, save for the Baltics, but the prospect of Finnish and German forces marching into Petrograd finally jolted Lenin into action. He defied Trotsky's insistence that the lines could be stabilized and sent replies to the German peace feelers.

The price of peace had gone up. Germany now supported Finnish independence as well. Given time they could end up all the way to Riga, and Lenin recognized the Soviet Union was at risk of losing the Baltic States. They needed peace as badly as the Germans now.

On October 29th, even as Mannerheim's troops were entering Vyborg and declaring it Viipuri, Lenin agreed to the armistice offer. Soviet troops would evacuate Finland and accept, in principle, the independence of Poland and Finland and the Romanian takeover of Bessarabia.






November 1920

The US Navy and Government approve a sale of new improved penetrator alloys for naval AP shells. The Cascadians take the sale.




Election Day came in Cascadia. And Neal Sullivan won.

For the first time in their history, the Democratic Party would have a President in the Executive Mansion in Portland.

The outcome of the election was a bitter one for Burgess, and it spelled the doom of the Liberal-Conservative Coalition. Many Liberals blamed the Conservative rightists who backed Roberts for the defeat. Lakeland groused to other Conservatives that their inability to force party discipline on Conservative officials had cost the Conservatives their best shot at continuing their policies in the Presidency.

Burgess, after the results, went to Lakeland and resigned the Premiership. He considered the election a democratic vote of no confidence from the population, and believed he could not serve as Secretary of State until he won a voter mandate, a possibility in the upcoming 1921 Parliamentary elections. The Cabinet did not resign but was taken over by Alonso Muniz, who carried on as Secretary of State. Muniz rotated in Representative John Grimsby of Olympia, a Democrat, to be the new Naval Secretary and shuffled Emiliano Santiago to replace Muniz as Foreign Secretary, an olive branch to the Liberals.






December 1920

The last of the Hull-class destroyers finish rebuilding.



The US Navy requests the plans for the above-water torpedo mounts used on Cascadian ships. The Admiralty, keeping in mind the US offer from the prior month, supports the deal.



The submersible Permit is started.

[Steve]

January 1921

The new Cuttlefish was completed, an oceanic-ranged submersible unlike her early coastal counterpart, joining the fleet alongside Sealion.





With peace negotiations dragging on with the Soviets, the Germans decided to attempt to increase the pressure on them to accept the offered terms. German officialdom proposed an anti-Soviet alliance with Cascadia that would force Lenin to accept the peace offer as it was.

Lakeland, now fully prepared to pit Cascadia against the Soviets, was ready to support the agreement. But Sullivan made it clear he was not going to accept an alliance with Germany that might end up bringing Cascadia into war with France. Muniz agreed with him on the issue and Lakeland, triumphant as he had been, left the Presidency with the bitter feeling that Cascadia had missed a chance to "smash the Communist menace".

The Germans were irritated at the refusal. Some German newspapers bitterly commented that the British and Cascadians had been using Germany to fight the Red Menace on the cheap.



Tension level to 2


February 1921

The Ranger finished her reconstruction.





While the alliance offer had failed, Germany still decided it would work with the Cascadians, if only for the money the country urgently needed. Blohm & Voss had completed design work for double turrets that could fit on destroyers. The Admiralty happily backed the purchase of the plans.







March 1921

Designers for Burleigh & Armstrong reported difficulty with an Admiralty contract on improving the pressure hulls for submersibles.



Naval Artillery reported that improved 8" guns were now available for use in any future armored cruisers.



Two more submersibles were ordered for the fleet.


The election of Sullivan, who backed civil rights for blacks and other non-white citizens, had a carry-on effect; it prompted insults from Washington where the Cascadian support for "Negro radicalism" was seen as destabilizing by many leaders, especially in the South. Some Southern Congressmen began calling for the US Customs authorities to be given power to prevent "provocative pamphlets" from being delivered across the national borderline.

The Soviets were pleased to see Sullivan win. His policies indicated that Cascadian expansionism would be muted, given the threat to Okhotsk and the Russian Far East that an aggressive Cascadia would pose.

US tension to 4, Russia and Japan to 3

Flagg himself was starting to wear down. He had spent over two decades in Parliament as a fighter for the Socialist cause. But his Party was now facing its hardest election since its initial runs in the 1890s. The prosperity of the country was satiating the economic desires of the working classes - it was getting harder and harder to bring in the numbers to his rallies and marches. And yet… and yet the Capitalist system was still intact. The victory of the Democrat-Socialist Coalition during Cushing's Cabinet had ironically weakened Flagg's ideological argument for an end to Capitalism. Now he was facing a grueling Parliamentary election year and a struggle just to keep the Socialist majority in Victoria that maintained him in the Senate.

Soon, it would be time to pass the torch of the Socialist Party, and Flagg was left wondering if the Party would survive the decade.






April 1921

Reilly & Collette ordered another yard expansion.



The Japanese Government offered financial compensation for access to the quality control procedures in Cascadian naval shell production. As relations with Japan were still amicable, the Admiralty agreed. Naval Ordnance reported that new wall castings were being implemented to improve the quality of naval shells.

Additionally, Admiralty planners had finalized new standing orders for more complicated fleet control procedures and a dedicated fleet scouting force to take advantage of improvements in communication.







(Essentially, this means that in the major naval battles to come, even at Vice Admiral setting I'll control two squadrons instead of 1 - my main battle element's lead squadron, and my scout element, usually having BCs or any remaining CAs in it).

In Britain, a General Election led to defeat for the Liberal Party. The Labour Party had come on strong this election cycle, but the cumulative effect was that the Conservatives won the Election. Bonar Law would assume the Prime Minister's position, with Stanley Baldwin as President of the Board of Trade and Austen Chamberlain as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lord Curzon received the Foreign Secretary position. His first order of business was the impending renewal of the Anglo-Cascadian Security Treaty of 1913.

Feelings in Britain could be mixed on it. Many leaders in Labour despised the Cascadians for the blatant anti-Socialism of Lakeland and other leaders. The Liberals, splintering between Asquith and Lloyd George, nevertheless agreed on the usefulness of the Cascadian alliance in securing the Pacific for the British Empire without major British naval deployment to the region. They were joined by many on the "left" of the Conservatives, including Chamberlain and Baldwin, who valued the alliance for much the same reason.

But Curzon and Bonar Law were among the Conservative faction that saw the Cascadians as a threat to the Empire. Already the economic links between Cascadia and the Oceanic Dominions - Australia and New Zealand - seemed to be pushing a wedge into the existing imperial relationship with those Dominions. Cascadia's growing influence in China was a potential threat to British commercial interests and now, due to what these Conservatives saw as Lloyd George's inability, the Cascadians had a strong position athwart the vital rubber-producing British colony in Malaya.

In internal party debates, it would be pointed out to these gentlemen and others that such things were reasons for the Cascadians to be kept as allies. But for Curzon and Bonar Law, that would seem an admission of Britain's decline, and they couldn't stomach it. Instead they asserted themselves in the Cabinet, forcing the other Conservatives to go ahead or to split the party just as the doomed Liberals had done. Unwilling to do so, the other Conservatives fell into line with a new set of policies, including promoting Joseph Chamberlain's old dream of Imperial Preference, and raising tariff walls that impeded Cascadian exports to the Dominions.

The alliance treaty was a trickier animal, since there was still sizable support for the treaty. Lord Curzon opted for the obstructionist approach, listing new terms for the Cascadians that he knew would be onerous, and which cast a shadow over the negotiations that he started with Ambassador Jeffrey Loughton when the new Cascadian Ambassador arrived in London toward the end of the month.





May 1921


The Garrett House
West Portland, Oregon
16 May 1921


Admiral Garrett returned home late that Monday. An appointment at the Naval Hospital at Vancouver, across the Columbia in Olympia, had been mandated by Naval Secretary Grimsby due to a persistent cough that the Admiral had suffered through the start of the month. The commanding physician, Doctor Herbert Samuels, had examined him and decided it was a persistent cold; additional bedrest and a week of light work load were ordered.

Grimsby had accepted the recommendations with grace, but he had irritated the Admiral with a remark about his "long service" that was clearly intended as a subtle hint that Grimsby thought he should consider retiring. The Admiral frowned as he sat down in the parlor, wishing he had made it abundantly clear to the damned man how he felt about the idea.

"Admiral, sir…" Mei-Ling approached. She nodded politely and handed him a stack of letters. "Your mail."

"Where is Gabbie?", he asked, trying not to sigh.

"With Miss Talaverda. They are studying."

"Ah. At least there is that." The Admiral pondered the issue for the moment. At the age of sixteen Gabriela was becoming more and more willful, and he was becoming less capable of dealing with it. A constant thought of his was to send her off to live with Thomas, where her nephews and niece might absorb some of her energy. And, perhaps, Thomas might yet get through to her and get her re-focused upon academic studies.

As he went through the mail, mostly letters from politicians and business contacts, he found one that caught the eye. It was addressed from Paris, and the flowing handwriting on the envelope was Sophie's. A small pang of regret came to him, that his older daughter was not here in Portland any longer, though he could never fault her for pursuing the opportunity with Professor Walter. Rachel would never have forgiven him for holding that against her.

He opened the letter and began to read. His brow furrowed as the words forced their way into his mind.

It was toward the end of the letter that Sophie stunned him to his core.

I cannot help it, Papa. Teddy is the kindest and most wonderful of gentlemen, gifted and intelligent, and I cannot say no to him on this. I love him as he loves me, and I have accepted his proposal for marriage.

I ask your forgiveness that we could not bear to wait. He begged me for the ceremony in Paris. I could not resist him, I could not resist the romance of a wedding in Paris. I am so sorry, Papa. Please, forgive me for falling to that temptation.

Your loving daughter,
Sophie

The Admiral couldn't keep the tears from his eyes. He was happy for his little girl's happiness, but… but how much it hurt that he didn't give her away.

A darker thought joined that pain and added to it. It caused a scowl on his face at the thought that this had been Walters' intention in the first place. A girl young enough to be his daughter, and he had wanted this to happen. Rachel had already reached her mid-twenties when they married, and he had not been much older than her. This Professor was twenty years Sophie's senior!

Whatever his ruminations, he knew there was nothing to be done for it. Sophie had made her choice. He would respect it, and be happy for his little girl.



Near the end of the month, word came from Berlin that the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk had been signed. The general peace treaty ended the Eastern War with Soviet Russia accepting several territorial losses to the Germans and Austro-Hungary. A new Poland would be created out of Soviet territory and made neutral between the three powers, with Lithuania being given the choice of joining Poland in a new Commonwealth or becoming an independent state under German protection. Finland also won independence under German protection. For her part in the war, Romania was awarded Bessarabia, and the new Danubian Imperial Federation was expanded eastward to the Dniepr, with Kiev to become the capital of a new division of the Habsburg-led Federation - this was compensation to the new body for its cession to Romania of Transylvania and granting Polish-aligned autonomy to Galicia-Lodomeria.

The peace was not popular in the Soviets. While the populace wished to return to peace, having gone through two major land wars in the span of a decade, the Soviet leadership became split between Lenin, who believed that the Soviet society needed a period of peace to secure itself, and Trotsky, who was convinced it was a sellout that denied German Communists the opening to rise up from war weariness. Waiting in the wings was Josef Stalin, quietly amassing institutional power in the Communist Party while he avoided firm commitments to either side of the dispute (Although he favored Lenin for practical purposes; his idea was to "build socialism in one country" as a guiding light to other Parties for when the time came for them to take over).

Remaining nationalists were incensed by the surrender of more territory, and anti-Soviet Russian propaganda gleefully depicted the Soviets as cutting the Russian state to shreds (citing both the cessions to Japan and Cascadia in 1910 and now the Brest-Litovsk concessions).

In Germany the main issue of contention was Poland. The Germans, especially the Prussians, had long invested in suppressing the Poles in Posen and Silesia. Opposition to Polish nationalism had often been a unifying factor between Berlin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. Many German conservatives were aghast at the idea of letting Pilsudski reform Poland. But with Germany facing continued reparations and still trying to repair the years of economic dislocation from the Anglo-Cascadian blockade, Germany had only limited resources to deal with the issue, and the prospect of suppressing Pilsudski to annex his new Poland was not appetizing. The Germans would settle for letting Pilsudski turn himself into a buffer state; he would lack the strength to hurt Germany, and his territories (and Lithuania) would be the cushion to absorb any future Russian aggressions.

Nevertheless, there was still significant opposition to "giving away" the lands won with the blood of German troops. Among the German Right the sentiment spread that Germany was being betrayed from within, that the overthrow of the Kaiser and a peace where Germany's conquests were non-existent had been orchestrated by disloyal traitors.

To the world's later dismay, one of those who felt this way was a failed Austrian artist-turned-decorated soldier named Adolf Hitler.




June 1921

The new improved 14" gun battery at Kiautschou Bay was completed.




Design teams reported significant difficulties with fashioning a new quadruple torpedo mount.

[Steve]

July 1921

By the start of July it became clear to Ambassador Loughton that the new British Government was not interested in renewing the alliance under anything approaching reasonable terms. He made one final effort, with the blessings of Muniz and Sullivan, offering further economic concessions to Britain in Sumatra. But the British demands over Sumatra and internal policies were simply unacceptable.

Lord Curzon and Bonar Law got their way. The alliance expired.



Once again, Cascadia stood alone in the world.

But this was not like before. Cascadia stood alone, but she did so as the most powerful state in the Pacific Rim, with an advanced and capable Navy. She was in a far better position than she'd been in back in 1900, or even in 1912 when the Japanese alliance ended.

In Portland, the end of the alliance was met with ambivalence. While there was great safety in the British alliance, Cascadia had been bound to protecting the British Empire, which many felt to be running out of life. Australia and New Zealand were already growing closer to Cascadia than to Britain. Why back an Empire that wanted to thwart this natural convergence?

As the election season began in earnest, it would remain to be seen how the end of the alliance would affect Cascadian politics.

Meanwhile the German government, despite its economic issues, managed to put together a tender to the Cascadians for plans to the improved power training and elevation machinery in turrets. After deliberation with Admiral Garrett and other senior Admiralty officials, the Naval Secretary approved the sale.





August 1921

The Seadragon and Seawolf joined the submersible fleet.



A state visit to Portland by Crown Prince Hirohito of Japan offered a chance for Portland and Tokyo to shore up their relations with one another. Trade agreements and arrangements concerning Japanese emigration were made. President Sullivan, Naval Secretary Grimsby, and Admiral Garrett joined the Crown Prince for a cruise on the Japanese battleship Mikasa, the latest battleship of Nihon Kaigun and the ship that had sailed him across the pacific. She was fairly impressive, at 35,700 tons with ten 15" guns in a 3x2/2x2 arrangement. The Cascadians, not to be outdone, feted the Crown Prince on the even larger battleship Titan. Some commentators would note on this gesture, and the apparent message it sent to have the brand new Mikasa met by the even larger, and three year old, Titan.

Japan tension to 2

After deliberations in the Admiralty, the decision was made to start building a new destroyer class utilizing the latest developments in shipbuilding, including the possibility of double gun turrets. The Leonard H. McCoy-class destroyers were 1500 tonners with a desired speed of 34 knots. The armament would be five 5" guns arranged in forward and aft dual mounts, with a superimposed single turret in the bow area. Three triple torpedo mounts along the centreline of the ship gave it more torpedo armament than the preceding Shepard-class; the extra torpedo mount and extra gun did require a smaller machinery plant to fit in the 1500t hull.

Six destroyers of this class were ordered: Leonard H. McCoy, Jackson D. Kelley, Leonard S. Nimoy, Andreas C. Katsulas, Richard J. Biggs, and James M. Doohan.







September 1921

Offshore oil deposits are found by prospectors off Bermuda in the Atlantic.

(Yeah, seriously, the game is really random with spontaneous new oil-granting possessions.)



Moran Brothers expanded their dockyard to accommodate newer, larger cargo vessel construction.

(At this point, my yard tonnage limit is beyond the game's hard-limit of 52,000T displacement. The game will still trigger these expansions even though I can't use them for anything.)


Although Crown Prince Hirohito's visit had been a success, the progress made was undone by the failure of negotiators to come to an agreement on the renewal of the treaty regulating Japan's access to the Liaotung Peninsula, as provided for by the Geneva Peace Accords. Although the Accords ensure that the Japanese military and navy can still call in at Port Arthur and troops can still be dispatched in and out of the area on the Manchurian Railway, the lack of a treaty on the matter nevertheless acts as an artificial limit, since it means an end to the scheme of compensation payments to the Railway authorities for use of the rails and no more guaranteed on-the-spot access. Cascadian officials in Port Arthur are quick to assure the Japanese consul that they will ensure that the actual implementation of the Accords remains intact. Nevertheless, the failure to renew the agreement, and the sign that the negotiating positions of the two sides was hardening, cast a dark cloud over the future of Cascadian-Japanese relations.

Relations with the United States markedly improved with a state visit by President Warren Harding. Although Harding was a Republican, and thus nominally opposed to the policies espoused by Neal Sullivan's Democrats, the two Presidents got along amicably. President Harding gave a speech to the North American Unity Society espousing the accomplishments of the Cascadian Republic. The newspapers reported that "although the American President gave the usual shibboleths about the need for the two republics to join into one, his praise to Cascadia for her accomplishments was genuine and heartfelt. They indicate increasing American support for the existence of the Cascadian nation."

A new treaty with France on trade issues in the Pacific also helped matters with the French Republic, reducing the tensions that had been building between the two former allies.

Japan tension to 3. France and US down to 3.

The Biggs was delayed in her slipway by problems at the shipyard.





October 1921

The Searaven and Sailfish commissioned.



As the Parliamentary elections entered their final month, it was becoming clear that the Socialist Party was becoming a spent force. Charleton had chipped off too much of their remaining strength while the Democrats offered a continued approach to social issues and reform that was more acceptable to the middle class Cascadians that were skeptical of the Socialists.

The strain was most telling on Flagg, as it became clear that after three decades of struggle to bring the Socialists to the cusp of power in 1910, the work he'd strived for was about to be dismantled. He vowed to leadership of the party that, should the Socialists not gain seats in the coming year, he would resign; in the meantime he was back on the campaign trail, attacking the other parties as being mere "rainbow colors" from the "exact same source: Capitalism. Do not be fooled, fellow citizens, by the sweet words of the Democrats, as they are simply the carrot that the bosses and capitalist fatcats dangle to trick the workingman at the ballot box. The workingman who stays true to his people and class will continue to vote Socialist."


November 1921


Election day came again, and with it the Democratic Party triumphed under the leadership of Neal Sullivan and Alonso Muniz. In fact, its triumph was one of the greatest any party would have: the Democrats had actually clinched an unbelievable majority in the House, and had won half of the Senatorial seats that were being challenged - there were additional victories in some of the provincial legislatures and governor aces. But the House victory was the greatest; it meant that the Democrats could potentially form a government without any coalition partners, a feat that had not been done since 1888 and the Liberal victory of that year.

As promised, Flagg resigned from both the Senate and the Socialist Party Chairmanship. John Matthews of Seattle, one of the few Socialists to keep his House seat, was invested as the new legislative leader of the much-diminished Socialist Party, which came in fifth in number of seats.

That said, the lead was not absence-proof; the Democrats would need every man at his desk in key votes if they tried to govern alone, or risk losing the House. Muniz and Sullivan, in consultation, decided to hedge their bets and invited the Liberals into a cooperative government. This would ensure that the Government wouldn't fall from just a few changed House seats in by-elections.

The Liberals were split on the issue. They were the second-largest party in the House and held a near-plurality in the Senate - becoming the junior partner in a coalition government did not sound appealing to them. Senator Burgess nevertheless opened negotiations with Muniz, who was the lead Democratic choice to retain his post as Secretary of State - the Liberals wished to see a streamlined system for determining certain points of regulations, as well as their enforcement. The Democrats bent where they could without jeopardizing the agenda that got them elected.

But just as the Conservatives had split over the Presidential race, so too did the Liberals split over the Coalition proposal. A group of rightist-Liberals, led by Senator Allen Abernathy of Montana, declared they would not accept a Coalition with the Democrats that did not give the Liberals a veto on Democrat economic policies. Muniz would not give such a veto.

As a result, the Liberals splintered; their rightists refused to back the new governing coalition; moderates and "left" Liberals signed on for it, giving the Democrat-Liberal coalition a commanding vote in both houses. In defiance of this outcome, the revolting Liberals referred to themselves as the "Opposition Liberals" and vowed to sit with the Conservatives and Populists in the official Opposition.

The Liberals who adhered to the new coalition thus became the National Liberals. Among their number was a newly-elected House Representative from Upper California…



The Garrett House
West Portland, Oregon
20 November 1921

The family and friends gathered at the table and, at the Admiral's prompting, raised glasses of wine. "To my boy Thomas," the Admiral said, "whom I am honored to introduce to you as the new House Representative for Vallejo!"

"A toast to the Honorable Gentleman from Vallejo!", said Reggie Etps in agreement.

The assembled toasted.

Thomas smiled gently at the praise from family and friends. Anne-Marie sat at his side, holding his right hand. John, now nearly eleven, was on the other side helping to look over his younger brother and sister with all of the genuine solemnity that a nine year old boy could hope to rouse.

"So are you caucusing with Abernathy or Burgess?", asked Admiral Phillip Wallace. The new Chief of Staff for the Battle Fleet was new to the Admiral's circle, but Etps had prompted his invitation while Wallace was in the capital for meetings with the Admiralty for the next battleship design proposals.

"I am with Burgess, and the Government," Thomas said. "I believe that the Democrats have a solid policy on these matters that can be pursued without jeopardizing Liberal values. Abernathy and his followers are Conservatives in denial."

"Harsh words, Tom." Rafael smiled briefly at his wife, who quite enjoyed hearing Thomas' loyalty to her father's side of the party. "Will they be in your first speech to the House?"

Thomas smirked at that. The expression caused the scars on his face to shift.

As the conversation continued, the Admiral noticed that Etps was giving him a quiet look. He nodded and joined him in the corner. "Sir, I thought it best that you heard it from me first," he said. "I have decided to retire."

The Admiral remained still for a moment before nodding. "Yes. Thank you for telling me."

"You protected my honor when I thought I as about to lose everything. And I know that you did all in your power to elevate me to a star. I don't blame you for the Promotion Boards passing me over."

There was nothing to say about that. "Take care of yourself, Reggie," the Admiral finally said, finding his voice. "We survived the typhoon and the worst the Spaniards could throw at us. It's been my pleasure to serve with you."

"And mine to serve with you, sir." With that remark Etps moved on to share the news with the others.




Two more McCoy-class destroyers were laid: Grace L. Whitney and Jeffrey CWM Conaway.




Relations with Germany reached their highest point in years in this month. A new trade agreement proved popular, and Cascadia joined the United States in proposing a generous loan program to help the German economy rebuild. President Sullivan dismissed the idea of this being more of Lakeland's policies in his statement on the loan program. "We are not doing this to turn the German people into some form of anti-Communist bulwark. We are doing this to demonstrate that the past is behind us. We wish the German people the best in embarking upon their new, grand destiny as a Republic in Central Europe." Translated by German newspapers, Sullivan's remark made him, in the words of Ambassador Rosario, "the most popular Cascadian figure in the history of Germany".

Although the US welcomed the Cascadian program, President Harding's visit had not managed to sweep away the growing American dislike for Cascadia's growing movement for social reform. A new Act of Parliament, immediately passed by Sullivan, introduced new government penalties for corporations or entities found violating the Citizens' Rights Act of 1887, which had been passed to protect the rights of racial minorities in Cascadia. Many American companies operating in Cascadia had continued to discriminate against blacks; these companies protested to allies in Washington on the matter. An unknown Southern Congressman was said to have grumbled, "This is what we get for sharing a continent with nigger-lovers."

US tension to 4, German tension to 0





December 1921

The battlecruiser Aurora, acting as a diplomatic transport vessel bearing officials to Japan, was the site of an incident in Tokyo Bay. During a diplomatic function on the ship's decks, a number of Japanese officials with ties to the militarist movement acted up. Whether they had gotten drunk or not was not determined, but they behaved in an offensive matter, verbally insulting leaders in Japan and in Cascadia and boldly declaring that when the time came, the Japanese Empire would drive Cascadia from all of East Asia.

Captain Devon Farling of the Aurora did what he could to shush up the incident, and the journalists on hand were subjected to Japanese censorship to hide the behavior over the land-based wires, but Captain Farling was unable to secure permission from the Admiralty to forbid the Cascadian journalists on the ship from transmitting reports of the occasion. The resulting scandal was an embarrassment to Japan and was fuel for the fire of anti-Japanese sentiment in Cascadia.



Tension to 4

The Office of Naval Design and Procurement informed Admiral Garrett that testing on a new quadruple-mount torpedo launcher was commencing.



Naval Intelligence arrested a clerk in the Naval Engineering Office for selling machinery schematics to an agent identified as a known French operative. The Cascadian Government protested the act of espionage from Paris.




France tension to 4

[Eternal_Freedom]

New battleship designs eh? What can you possibly be working on that tops the Titans? And what might you possibly call them? Levithan? Behemoth? Dreadnought?, Nemesis?.

Though if my character is involved in designing these new monsters, I must insist that one (my flagship) be the Thunder Child!

[Imperial528]

Though if my character is involved in designing these new monsters, I must insist that one (my flagship) be the Thunder Child!

If nothing else, ensure that the bow is meant for ramming.

[Steve]

New battleship designs eh? What can you possibly be working on that tops the Titans? And what might you possibly call them? Levithan? Behemoth? Dreadnought?, Nemesis?.

Though if my character is involved in designing these new monsters, I must insist that one (my flagship) be the Thunder Child!

You'll find out in the morning. Although given that I completed the game in August, your request for a Thunderchild is regrettably impossible.

....I'll make it up to you by having a Starship Thunderchild in the Undiscovered Frontier series.

[Steve]

January 1922

The Swordfish is commissioned and joins the Submersible fleet.


February 1922

The Intrepid is commissioned, providing the Cascadian Navy with the fruits of its first post-war building effort.



Relations with Germany and Russia fluctuated after the start of the New Year, although not to any important degree.

Germany tension to 1, Russia to 2

The Admiralty was informed that work had been completed on quadruple torpedo firing mounts.



Relations with France worsened as new evidence indicated that the French spy network in Portland had also gained access to Naval Ordnance material on Cascadia's explosive shell design.



France tension to 5

Four more McCoy-class destroyers are laid, the Robin D. Sachs, Alan S. Rickman, Christopher F.C. Lee, and Robert M. O'Hare Jr.





March 1922

The Interceptor joined the fleet. She joined the Intrepid in the 1st Battle Scout Division, Battle Scout Squadron.



Admiral Garrett was the keynote speaker in the Cascadian Navy Defense League that March. During the speech, he remarked upon the potential threats to Cascadia's freedom of movement on the seas with Japan as the main example. The press reported his statements incorrectly (or did they?), implying that Admiral Garrett had declared Japan to be an actual threat to the freedom of the seas and not a prospective one.

The Japanese Embassy protested the remarks. Nor were they popular in the Cabinet. President Sullivan gave the Admiral a dressing down in a meeting with the military Chiefs of Staff. He informed Naval Secretary Grimsby that he wanted Garrett retired. Grimsby balked - the Liberals and many Democrats liked the Admiral, and he had scrupulously kept the Navy apolitical. If the Government tried to force him out, it could trigger a House revolt. Sullivan backed down, but he was unhappy with the situation, especially as relations with Japan took a severe hit.



Japan tension to 6

With tensions on the rise with France and Japan, Admiral Garrett took the step of ordering new enhanced training to begin in the Navy, particularly in the East Asia, Philippines, and South Pacific squadrons. A number of the ships that were on reduced routines were ordered to full training and activity as a further precautionary measure.






With the Intrepid and her first sister completed, the time had come to investigate a new project for maintaining Cascadia's battle squadrons. The Admiralty considered itself to have an adequate battle cruiser force with the four Intrepid-class ships being added to the two Gallants and the two Auroras. Therefore it was time to add to the battleship line.

Various designs had been considered, but the Office of Naval Design and Procurement, with the backing of Admiral Wallace, recommended the largest sovereign battleship yet: a 45,800 ton warship they had titled the Excalibur-class. The Excalibur would have a design speed of 23 knots, 15" protective belt armor, 3.5" deck armor, and 16" armoring of the conning tower. The main battery would be the largest yet attempted: twelve 16"/50 naval guns arranged in four triple turrets following the same A-B-X-Y turret arrangement from the Constitutions and Titans, with the turrets having 15" side armoring and 3.5" top armoring. The secondary battery would be the now-usual sixteen 5" guns in eight double turrets, with 20 4" deck guns as the smaller tertiary battery.

The behemoth warships would be expensive, the most expensive yet, but the naval budget was there to permit a solid run to be laid over the next two years. Admiral Garrett gave his approval for the design. The ships would be laid as budget and dock factors permitted.





April 1922

The submersible Permit was finished.



The United States government offered to license new synthetic fire control computers to Cascadia. The Admiralty was quick to support the transaction.





Designers and scientists reported difficulty in improving counterflooding equipment.




Design work proved more rapid than thought on implementing mine rails on scout cruisers and destroyers. Giving independent mine-laying capability, especially to commerce raiders, would improve the options of the Cascadian feet.





The Excalibur was laid at Reilly & Collette in Bremerton.





May 1922

The Intrepid finished her working up,.



German naval vessels on a world cruise exercise paid a port visit to Cascadia, sailing into Puget Sound and then down to the Bay. A reporter from The Oregonanian asked Admiral Garrett his opinions on the German ships. The Admiral was not impressed, dismissing the visit with remarks about badly-performing sailors on "old rust buckets". "It is a shame to see how far the German Navy has fallen from its heights."

The remarks stung a number of officers and others in Germany, impacting relations between the German and Cascadian Republics.

Germany tension to 2

Although quadruple turrets were not in favor with Cascadian designers, design work for them had continued as a side project. Improvements to the concept would allow for better accuracy and a better rate of fire.








June 1922

The Illustrious was commissioned. The Interceptor's crew finished working up finished working up.





Admiral Garrett agreed to a series of interviews through the month by a journalist - Joanna Kepler - compiling an article series on his life. Early on the interviews were primarily biographical, with the Admiral mentioning memories and events through his life. During the last interview, however, Mrs. Kepler asked him for his views on if there would be any future wars. The Admiral responded that he thought there would be, although he hoped none would come in his lifetime. He predicted that increasing militarism and discontent in Japan made them a likely foe in the next twenty years.

Kepler's publication of the prediction sparked a fresh row between Tokyo and Portland… and between the Executive Mansion and the Admiralty. Even Muniz came down hard on the Admiral, and Grimsby ordered that he no longer grant interviews or answer questions on political subjects.

They weren't the only ones who questioned his judgement on the issue.


The Admiralty
Portland, Federal District
19 June 1922


The Admiral was looking over reports on fleet exercises in his office when Yeoman Randolph, a well-kept young man, showed in his visitor. Thomas stood at the door in a business suit. And his face told the Admiral his politician son wasn't here for family business. "Pa, you know why I'm here, right?", he asked.

"Mrs. Kepler's article I imagine," the Admiral answered sullenly. The lines of his aged face crinkled.

"Pa, you've got to know better than to say things like that. The journalists will always print it, always! They know they'll get readers when it's you!"

The Admiral sighed. "She asked me a question. I thought it proper to give her an answer."

"You predicted that Japan would attack us within twenty years, Pa, don't you realize what it means when you say these things? You've got people demanding that the naval budget be raised to meet a threat simply because you predicted it! It's… my God, Pa, it's like you want a war!"

The old man bristled at that. He stood from his desk and glared at his son. "Of course I don't," he barked. "Wars are messy. They're dangerous to our country. They've already cost our family too much."

"They have," agreed the younger man, who resisted the urge to adjust his eyepatch. "Pa, John's young, but in just a few years he'll be of draft age. I don't want him going off to get his eye ripped out of his head by a piece of shrapnel. Everything we do should be to keep the peace. That's what Ma wanted, remember? Everyone at peace."

Mentioning Rachel made the Admiral's chest hurt. It reminded him that it had already been four years, four years since the final pained breath, four years since she had been laid to her eternal rest to wait for him. His brow furrowed and he slumped into his seat. "I'm sorry, Thomas," he said.

"I've been asked to assure the House Committee on Naval Affairs that you won't do this again," Thomas said. "I thought you'd prefer hearing about it from me than the others."

Admiral Garrett nodded stiffly. "Yes. Thank you, I do prefer it. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused. From now on, I will bite my tongue on anything beyond narrow naval matters."

"Thanks, Pa." Thomas was visibly relieved. He turned to go and stopped. He looked back with a curious look. "Pa, what have you heard from Sophie lately?"

The Admiral frowned. He never bothered to hide how irritated he was at Sophie turning her academic career trip into an elopement. "She and her new husband have moved to Vienna from Berlin. I'm told he has a few more archives to go through before he has the materials he needs to begin writing his book." A puzzled look came to the older man. "Why?"

"I just thought her last letter seemed too short," Thomas said.

"Ah, well, your sister is madly in love, and is working with her books besides that. I would think she has less time for writing."

"I suppose. I just felt a little awkward." Thomas forced a smile. "Goodbye, Pa. See you this weekend again?"

"Of course." Nothing more was said, and Thomas departed.




Tensions with Japan to 7

Work on double or triple turret mounts for patrol cruisers came to a halt due to a problem in the design work. Naval Ordnance reported that it had completed testing of new advanced AP shells with superior penetration capability.






The second of the Excalibur-class sovereigns, the Arondight, is laid at Bremerton.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Ok, that's damned impressive, and I heartily approve of Excalibur! Not so sure on Arondight as a name, but meh, I've got my kickass flagship!

As for nUF, yeah, you'd better put me and my ship in, just take note it's Thunder Child not Thunderchild, just as Wells intended

[Steve]

Ok, that's damned impressive, and I heartily approve of Excalibur! Not so sure on Arondight as a name, but meh, I've got my kickass flagship!

As for nUF, yeah, you'd better put me and my ship in, just take note it's Thunder Child not Thunderchild, just as Wells intended

Heh.

HMS Thunder Child, the most badass Royal Navy ship that never existed.

And the four ships of the class are all named for swords linked to Arthurian mythos. "Arondight" was Lancelot's sword. We'll also have Curtana and Galatine laid during 1922.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Ok, that's damned impressive, and I heartily approve of Excalibur! Not so sure on Arondight as a name, but meh, I've got my kickass flagship!

As for nUF, yeah, you'd better put me and my ship in, just take note it's Thunder Child not Thunderchild, just as Wells intended

Heh.

HMS Thunder Child, the most badass Royal Navy ship that never existed.

And the four ships of the class are all named for swords linked to Arthurian mythos. "Arondight" was Lancelot's sword. We'll also have Curtana and Galatine laid during 1922.

Damn straight!

Ahh, I see the theme now, very nice.

[Steve]

July 1922

With nearly four years of peacetime, the Cascadian nation was enjoying an increase in productivity that was certain to strengthen the economy.



The submersibles Pompano and Dolphin were commissioned, as were the first five of the McCoy-class destroyers.





A sale of licenses for the improved machinery in quadruple turrets was made to the British Government.



Partial welding techniques were perfected that could be employed in ship construction.



The third Excalibur, the Curtana, was laid.



The growing threat of war, and discontent from the right-wing side of the Cascadian political spectrum with ongoing Democrat-crafted reforms, have caused some increasing tensions in Cascadian society.

Unrest at 1


August 1922

The Biggs was commissioned into the fleet.



The United States, concerned with the German recovery and seeming German interest in South American affairs being restored, approached Cascadia with the idea of restoring the alliance treaty that had been left to die in 1899. President Harding and President Sullivan met in Chicago as a symbolic gesture to the treaty that had bound the two countries in the fight against the Confederacy in the 1880s - their delegations included key figures from both administrations as well as leaders in the two Senates. The anti-German element to the American position was not entirely met by the Cascadians, who were more concerned with the Pacific and the more likely threats of Japan and France, but the alliance was nevertheless accepted by both for similar reasons: it permitted the restoration of the near-demilitarized state of their long continental border (although never heavily-fortified, over the years both had slowly built up army installations in the near-border regions) and the alliance, in principle, protected the shipping of each in the other's ocean - American vessels in the Pacific would be defended by Cascadian ships, Cascadian vessels in the Atlantic and Caribbean by American.

The Second Chicago Treaty, as it came to be called, was the one decision of the new Government that the entire Liberal Party could rally around, although it remained split between Abernathy's Opposition and Burgess' Nationals. The Conservative Party was less welcoming - they preferred the British as an alliance partner. The Socialists and Communists were opposed but had no power to resist it. The Treaty was thus easily ratified in the Cascadian Senate. In the US Senate there was a significant bloc in opposition, centered around diehard Southern Democrats who despised the Cascadians and border staters who were still bitter about the existence of said border. But Harding and his Republicans held their ground and, with quiet maneuvering, secured the necessary Senate votes for ratification

The news was not taken well in Japan. The Japanese saw this as a danger to them; America's Navy was one of the world's largest. If Cascadia and the US were allies in a war with Japan, it could result in a deadly blockade.

The growing militarist faction in Tokyo urged the Army to act. One proposal was for a surprise attack on Cascadian naval bases along with a Japanese invasion of the Liaotung Peninsula. The former was unlikely - the latter, however, could be achieved. And the Army prepared for that eventuality. Internally the decision was made that if Cascadia exercised its right to rescind Japanese military access to Port Arthur after a one year warning, Japan would attack before the term expired.





US tension to 1

Japan tension to 8


September 1922

The long-standing issues in Ireland came to a head with a massive uprising across Ireland by Irish Nationalists. The Irish had been provided with arms from various sources - American sympathizers, vengeful Germans, Communists - and included military veterans of the century's wars as their core. Much of the countryside, as well as provincial cities like Sligo, Cork, and Tipperary, fell in the opening week of the attack.

The British were caught at an impossible moment; the Army was busy in England due to fears of an imminent General Strike. The Ulstermen rallied to their militias to fight back as the fighting spread to Ulster. But with social troubles striking England and diverting attention, the Irish were in a good position, a better one than they knew.



The battlecruiser Indefatigable was commissioned. The Illustrious finished working up.







President Sullivan wanted to assuage Japanese concerns with new talks. The Japanese signaled willingness to discuss matters.

Unfortunately for Sullivan, he was unable to get Santiago to agree to concessions to Japan's wounded pride. Santiago feared that Sullivan's peace initiative, if it was deemed to be giving concessions to Japan, would be taken badly by Hawks in the Liberal and Democratic Parties. The talks, which amounted to a mere re-affirmation of the Geneva Peace Accord terms over the Liaotung Peninsula, did nothing to reduce the growing tensions with Japan.




The Admiralty was given the news that the Armoring Office had developed plans to implement internal belts on new ships in the fleet. It was too late to implement them into the Excalibur-class battleships, unfortunately.




October 1922

With a General Strike bringing England and Scotland to a standstill, the British Government was unable to send sufficient help to Ireland to prevent the Nationalists from securing the majority of the island. Ulster was holding out for the moment, fired by fears of religious persecution by Catholic Ireland, but the rest of the island was under IRA control. A new independent Ireland was proclaimed by Michael Collins in Dublin. The new Irish Republic quickly won recognition from Soviet Russia, Germany, and several other states eager to tweak Britain's nose. Cascadia was not one of them and would not recognize Ireland until after the British accepted the outcome.



The Conaway and Whitney were commissioned.




A deal was made in Berlin for Cascadia to license Krupp's new 10" naval rifle, which was superior to the mainstay Cascadian 10" gun that had been in use, with only mild refinement, since the 1890s.





Improved wet heater engines to be used in torpedoes were ready for building and installation.




The Lee was delayed in the yards.

Lee delayed


November 1922

Against Sullivan's desires, hawks in the Coalition government passed a new expanded naval budget to face the perceived threat from Japan.



Parker & Sons' growing experience with the McCoy-class destroyer allowed them to make up the lost month in constructing the Lee.




December 1922

The Indefatigable completed her working up and joined the fleet. With her in the fleet, the 1st Battle Scout Squadron was now completely formed of new ships.




The Japanese Ambassador approached Grimsby, urging the Naval Secretary to reduce Cascadian naval spending and to assume a less-provocative stance toward his country. Grimsby's hands were tied, however, as Admiral Garrett was already allocating the expanded budget, and any attempt to make him stop would cause a political crisis that could bring down the Muniz Cabinet.



Work on improving torpedoes received a boost with an unexpected advancement in the design process.



Designers were ready to begin using newer, improved pressure hulls for submersibes.



Relations with Japan further deteriorated. With war with Japan seeming to loom on the horizon, the anti-Sullivan attitudes of the Conservatives and Populists begin to fade. Both parties urged their countrymen to be ready to fight for Cascadia.

Japan tension to 9

Unrest to 0

[Steve]

January 1923

The Lee, Rickman, O'Hare, and Sachs were commissioned.



A nationalist revolt broke out in Burma, possibly inspired by the success of the Irish Revolution. The Cascadian government pledged support to the British as a gesture calculated to keep the British from siding with Japan in any conflict. Anglo-Cascadian relations improved as a result.



UK tension to 0

Admiral Garrett, looking to save up budgetary space, decided to end the enhanced training regimen for the Navy.



The Galatine, the last of the Excalibur-class battleships, was laid.





The Garrett House
West Portland, Oregon
26 January 1923


Another week of work at the Admiralty was over and the Admiral returned home. The winter rains and chill were the usual for the time of year, creating a gray pallor that could make the entire city depressing.

Mei-Ling, ever dutiful, was on hand to take his raincoat and uniform jacket at the front door. He went to his parlor where she helped him into his smoking jacket. It was a gift from Jake Roberts, the Populist leader, a pleasing crimson with black trim that had the Admiral's monogram over the heart in gold. A selection of newspapers and magazines were available on his desk, as was a manuscript by the retired Admiral Simon Holmes. His former aide was writing a historical account of the Great War of 1908-1910 and had advanced him a manuscript for comment. The Admiral had finished half of it and looked to finish the entire thing by next week; he had some criticisms and objections to Holmes' findings, but on the whole he regarded the work as a good one.

Mrs. Laurie no longer cooked for the house; she'd moved with her family to Bakersfield in Lower California in mid-'22. In her place the Admiral had hired Judy Freeman. The black woman had been born into slavery in the American South in a family that emigrated to Cascadia after the defeat of the Confederacy. She was in her fifties now, a stocky lady who could curse like a sailor but who never said so much as a "darn" in front of Gabriela or the grandchildren. That she was an excellent cook none could or would deny. "Here you are, Admiral," she drawled, missing most of the "r" sounds, while presenting him with a tray that had a well-prepared slice of pork, potato, and steamed kale greens.

"Thank you," he replied with customary diligence.

"Mister Tom came by earlier," she said. "Said he'd bring the Missus an' little ones by tomorrow for dinner."

The Admiral smiled gently at that. "I hope it's not an imposition for you, Judy."

"Ain't no imposition," she insisted.

He nodded to her in thanks and watched her go. With his dinner cooked, and plates undoubtedly ready for Gabriela and Mei-Ling, Ms. Freeman would be heading for a taxi and her home in Cedar Mill.

The Admiral was half-finished with his meal when Gabriela came downstairs. She looked in on him and returned shortly afterward carrying a plate of dinner. The Admiral looked over her appearance with what was becoming customary patience. At age eighteen her hair was still cut short, and her physically-active lifestyle had given her the build and look of a tomboy, although she still wore skirts most of the time thankfully. "Papa," she said to him. "How was your day?"

"Normal," he confirmed. "Your studies are going well?"

"Well enough," she answered. "Papa, Isabela's invited me to stay with her family for the weekend. Are you okay with that?"

Admiral Garrett pondered that. "Your brother and his family will be over tomorrow, you know."

"I know, but they're over at least once a month anyway. You don't need me here for that, do you?"

The Admiral had a feeling that she was humoring him, that if he still said no she'd find a way to slip away anyway. "Very well," he said. "So long as you bring all of your study work from school home on Sunday, completed."

"Thank you, Papa," Gabriela said.

He said nothing in return. Seeing her smile was in of itself a joy, given the tension of her teenage years after her mother had passed. "Hopefully your sister and her husband will be home soon," he said. A frown appeared on his face. "It's been three years."

"I'm sure she will be as soon as the book is done."

There was something in Gabriela's voice that made the Admiral wary. But he didn't press it, if only because he wasn't sure why she sounded that way, and the last thing he wanted was to start the weekend by having an argument with her.




February 1923

Another crisis in Africa drew world attention, this time in Tanganyika over a dispute between some of the German Republic authorities and the Imperial-loyal officials still governing in German East Africa. The dispute exploded into violence between native groups aligned with either side. Admiral Garrett dispatched a cruiser squadron and attached Marines to Dar-es-Salaam to secure Cascadian nationals. In the press his quick action was universally hailed, save for some arch-dove circles, and German authorities were pleased to accept the assistance to restore order.

But other powers were not so sanguine. This assertion of Cascadian power in the Indian Ocean troubled the British Government, and the Soviets saw it as a potential resumption of Cascadian expansionism. The French were most angered by the Cascadian force - the colonial party saw the act as a harbinger for an assertive Cascadian policy that threatened French holdings in Oceania and Asia.



Russia tension to 4, France to 7, UK to 1




March 1923

After two years the popularity of President Sullivan was indisputable. Even some Conservatives and Populists liked him, or at least admired his witticisms and his outgoing personality.

Admiral Garrett was not entirely immune to the President's charms, but their relationship had continued to be a rocky one, and Sullivan privately continued to believe that the Admiral should be retired on account of his age. He was enough of a politician to see this was not something to be forced, however, and so he sought to repair his relations with the man considered the Father of the modern Cascadian Navy by proposing a shooting competition in the fleet that he could observe.

The Admiral, despite the costs of such a thing, agreed with the proposal. For a week that year, the President joined Naval Secretary Grimsby, Admiral Garrett, and other leading officers at Bremerton, sailing out every day on the Titan or the Champion to observe the competition. In the end, the winner by points was the cruiser Bremerton - the crew was given a large bonus and the President personally presented Captain Lawler the Presidential Unit Citation.

The shooting competition was also used as a training exercise, allowing Admiralty tacticians to continue work on a coordinated fleet turn-away maneuver in battle.







The shooting competition may have contributed to a budget shortfall that forced a delay in the construction of the Curtana.




April 1923

Relations with Japan took a turn for the worse with the arrest of John Gephardt by Japanese security services. Gephardt, publicly presented as a shipping company agent, had in fact been working for Naval Intelligence as one of Vice Admiral James Hawke's top agents.

At first the reaction from Cascadia was muted. Admiral Garrett refused to comment on Gephardt, scrupulously keeping to his promise to Thomas about the press. President Sullivan responded to protests from Tokyo with an apology and a decision to order intelligence to scale back efforts so they didn't derail his peace policies. He was in the middle of getting a delegation approved to a naval disarmament conference to be hosted later in the year and hoped that Japan would join said conference with limitations on naval expansion open for discussion, saving their countries from further expense on the shipbuilding projects draining their treasuries.

But toward the end of the month a diplomatic parcel from Tokyo arrived, and it went off like a well-placed time bomb to wreck Sullivan's efforts. Before his capture, Gephardt had successfully acquired the naval plans for the Japanese surprise attack on Port Arthur in the event of a breach with Cascadia.

At that point, the Admiral couldn't stop the word from being leaked to the press. "Heroic Naval Agent Discovers Japanese Invasion Plot!" screamed The Oreganian's headline. "Japanese Invasion Plan Uncovered!" added the San Francisco Times. With news writers and editors across the country making Gephardt into a hero and screaming denunciations of Japan, Sullivan's plans for negotiating a permanent settlement over the Liaotung Peninsula came crashing down around him. The Democrats threatened to split between Doves and Hawks yet again and Muniz urged Sullivan to not provoke a split that would topple Muniz's Cabinet. Sullivan felt compelled by the popular furor to back down from his plans for Japan.

The Japanese had their own internal squabbles. The peace wing of the leadership believed that any thought of military action had to be shelved. The militarists, though, gained strength regardless of the leak, riding the tide of outrage at Cascadian reaction to their spy's capture and the information he stole. The naval element of their invasion plans had been discovered, but all this meant was a need to change those plans. Meanwhile the Army reinforced its positions in Manchuria and Korea, and the garrison on Formosa was enlarged and prepared for prolonged warfare.



Japan tension to 10




May 1923

British armament companies sold a license to Cascadian manufacturers for a new, enhanced explosive filler for shells.





The Admiralty's Operations Office released a new series of directives and plans for counterflooding methods to improve ship survivability. Designers also reported success in modeling with new turret fittings that would save weight. Work on anti-submersible K-Guns was less successful, with vexing technical issues holding back development.







Due to the budget issues, the Galatine's construction was also halted.




June 1923

Admiralty tacticians overseeing fleet maneuvers successfully developed the plans and signals needed for a fleet turnaway maneuver in battle.




On the 17th of the month, the Cascadian Army and Navy held a Special Defense Summit to look over the Japanese situation. Admiral Garrett and the Army Chief of Staff, General Brewer, were briefed by subordinates and civilian experts in the latest Japanese actions and movements. Efforts were still underway to crack Japanese military codes for their wireless transmissions, but even without these communications one thing was known for certain: Japanese troops in Manchuria were increasing in number. It was plainly evident that Japan was preparing for an attack on the Liaotung Peninsula.

The two men issued a joint report to Secretary Grimsby, War Secretary Antonio Diaz, Secretary of State Muniz, and President Sullivan. Their finding was grim: a Japanese attack was expected to be possible by the end of the year, if not the next year. The Cascadian troop deployments in Liaotung were insufficient to hold out indefinitely; an extra division, minimum, was necessary for assignment if Liaotung was to be held. It was the estimation of the military chiefs that any reinforcement to Liaotung would be detected by Japan and provoke diplomatic uproar - it could even prompt a Japanese attack.

The chiefs proposed that Cascadia not reinforce until it was ready to invoke the clauses of the Geneva Accord and give the Japanese the one year warning on the closing of Port Arthur and the railroad to their troop movements. This was a step Sullivan simply would not countenance at the moment, even with Muniz urging him to consider. He still held out hope for a diplomatic solution.

It would remain to be seen if one presented itself.




July 1923


The Executive Mansion
Portland Federal District
14 July 1923


It was a bright, warm Saturday, and it was the sort of day that Admiral Garrett would have spent with Gabriela and the grandkids, at the park or museums or elsewhere.

But the Japanese situation was intervening.

The Admiral reported to the Planning Room, built into the east wing of the Mansion, in duty uniform. The stocky, balding figure of General Brewer was already there. It had been over a decade since his troops had taken Tsingtao, and the glory that had won him was why he was here now as Army Chief of Staff. They gave each other a respectful salute. Though Garrett had seniority, it was considered inappropriate for one service head to salute another - that would imply one service was superior to the other in some minds. "Is there anything new?", the Admiral asked.

"Nothing on my end," Brewer said. "Your's?"

"Hawke and his people are quiet on the matter."

"Ah. Well, that's something at least." Brewer frowned. "Sullivan is playing a dangerous game with the Japs. You know that. The longer we wait to send reinforcements, the more ready they are to attack."

"We will have to convince him of that," the admiral replied.

The two sat quietly, waiting for the signal to enter. But none of the other attendees were arriving. After an hour, with his watch showing it was now 1315 hours, Admiral Garrett began to pace. "They were coming back from Seattle this morning, weren't they?", Admiral Garrett asked Brewer. "The papers said their breakfast with the Olympian government leaders was to be at eight."

"That's what I was told," Brewer replied.

It was another half an hour before a Presidential aide came up. Lester Crabbins was a nephew to the Senator Crabbins that led the Democrats two decades ago, the Admiral recalled. The young man, looking to be in his mid-20s, looked on the military chiefs apologetically. "We just got a wire from Seattle, Admiral, General," he said. "The Presidential train was held up due to a technical issue, some engine failure. They're not going to be back in town until tonight."

"So we are to come back tonight then?", Brewer asked. There was no disguising his irritation.

"I'm not sure. It will depend on how long they are stuck in Seattle." Crabbins shook his head. "I'll have couriers bring you news on when the meeting is to be held."

"Very well," the Admiral stated. He and Brewer walked away together.

"That was a damned waste of time," Brewer grumbled.

"It was."

"I think I'll head to the Service Club and have some lunch. Interested?"

The Admiral shook his head. "No. If I am to have the day, I will spent it with my youngest." A forlorn look came to him. "She's eighteen, nearly nineteen now. I expect she'll be off to college by the end of the year. It's… preferable to spend time with her while I can."

"I understand. Good day."


The Garrett House
West Portland, Oregon


The taxi ride across the Willamette was one the Admiral had long grown accustomed to, and this one went much like any would save the lighter weekend traffic. The driver let him off at the street outside of his door. Mei-Ling would be out today, visiting family across the Columbia in Vancouver, and Ms. Freeman would likewise not be along until it was dinner time. It would be just the Admiral and his daughter.

He opened the door and closed it behind him. Within moments he had his uniform jacket off and in its proper place. He would change clothes when he got upstairs to his room, after he stopped by Gabbie's room to see if she was in there. He nearly called out to her, but a little impish streak came to him; he would surprise her with his presence. He anticipated, with some fatherly relish, the delight that duty had not detained him on this fine Saturday.

Distant, quiet sounds were coming from upstairs as he ascended the steps. Impishness started to boil away, replaced by the realization of what the sounds were, of the moans and giggles and the lip-smacking sounds of passion. A sudden fury erupted inside of him, tinged with disbelief.

The sounds were coming from Gabriela's bedroom. He stormed up to it and threw open the door.

And yet… he hadn't expected the scene before him.

True, much to his expectations, Gabriela had stripped her clothes off. She was sitting on her bed, on her knees, straddling a figure laying belly-up below her. His eyes flashed furiously to get a look at the offender, the unknown suitor who was taking his daughter's innocence…

...and found himself glaring hotly into the pale, terrified face of Isabela Talaverda.

His brain now compiled the rest of the scene. Isabela was stripped to her waist, one of Gabriela's hands upon one of her breasts while the other hand had curled around the belt of Isabela's skirt. Disbelief and surprise stole his breath and, for the moment, his fury.

Gabriela turned her head and faced her father. She self-consciously brought an arm up to her chest to cover herself. "Papa?!", she cried. She was surprised to see him, that was clear.

A lot of emotions roiled inside of the Admiral, and his fury was trying to find an outlet. Iron discipline slammed down on it. His face became a stony mask of disapproval. "Miss Talaverda," he rumbled, every syllable controlled and deliberate. "You will get dressed and you will leave. You are no longer welcome in my house." Tranquil fury started to show on his expression as his eyes shifted to his daughter, half-frozen in fear even with the defiant glint in her eyes. "Gabriela Dolores Maria Garrett, you will get dressed and see your acquaintance to the front door. And then you will come to the parlor immediately. We are going to have a talk."

And he promptly shut the door.



At the twenty minute mark, the Admiral nearly stormed back upstairs, but he heard the footsteps coming down the stairs and didn't move from his chair. He listened from the parlor at the hushed voices, quiet sobbing, and finally the sound of the front door shutting.

Gabriela stepped to the threshold of the parlor. She was in a plain white school shirt, buttoned down, and gray skirt that went to her knees. Her hair was still tussled. Brown eyes were cast downward; she had the look of a condemned prisoner knowing the final day had come.

"I do not know where to begin," the Admiral growled. "You have shamed your mother with this… perversion, because we raised you better than this. I do not know if the Talaverda girl is responsible for this…"

"She isn't," Gabriela said simply.

A frown accompanied his nod. "You are forbidden from seeing her again, publicly or otherwise," the Admiral said. "I will not speak of this indiscretion to her father unless the Senator approaches me on the issue." He folded his hands in his lap. "I was hoping you would have picked a university or college by now, like Sophie."

"I'm not Sophie." Gabriela's voice was bitter.

"No, you are not. Sophie would not have done this. Sophie would never have spat on your mother's memory, she would never have…"

"You don't get to talk about Mama's memory!", Gabbie shrieked. Her face twisted into a pained expression. "Not when you've spent five years burying yourself in your Goddamn Navy and... and ignoring...!"

"You will not curse in this house!", the Admiral thundered, interrupting her. "You are supposed to be better than that! Your mother and I raised you to be better than that!"

Gabriela pursed her lips in reply. Her fists clenched and tears formed in her eyes. "You and Mama tried to make me like Sophie. But I'm not. I'm not like her and I was never going to be like her, and…" She stopped. A defeated look crossed her face. "I'm not the daughter you wanted me to be. Why can't you accept that?"

"I can accept many things. I will not accept you making a mockery of our family with this… this sapphist dalliance of yours," he said. His hand went to his forehead - he felt a headache coming on - and he took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Perhaps it is my fault for not retiring after all. I thought I could raise you with the help of your sister. But she had other plans." He laughed bitterly. "At least she is in a fruitful and happy marriage and not indulging in this sort of debauchery…"

Those words stirred Gabriela to smirk nastily. "You… you still don't understand it, do you? You never…"

"I never what?" The Admiral leveled a gaze at her. "What are you speaking of?"

Gabbie laughed bitterly. "A 'happy and fruitful marriage'? You… you've never even thought about why Sophie doesn't write so much anymore? Why she doesn't tell you anything?" With tears she shook her head. "She wouldn't tell you of course. She's afraid of letting you down, of making you ashamed."

"Ashamed?" He was truly bewildered now.

"She's not in a happy marriage, Father!", Gabriela shouted. "That bastard of a husband has beaten her almost every week they've been married!"

The confusion in the Admiral peaked. He could scarcely believe what he heard her say. "...what? How could you say such a…"

"I've got the letters!", Gabriela declared. "She tells me. I think maybe Thomas too.. I'm not sure. But she told me so I'd marry better than her, so that I'd be more careful. But she'll never tell you because she doesn't want to disappoint you!"

There was nothing the Admiral could say to that. As angry as he was with Gabriela, his mind was now seized by the image of his daughter being harmed by that Professor of hers. He thought back to meeting the man and tried to imagine him as a domestic tyrant, the kind he had always frowned down upon. At first his mind rebelled at the thought… until it looked deeper, until it conceived of the frustrations of such a small and quiet man and how it might drive him within a domestic setting.

As he processed this, Gabriela continued. "If anything, it makes my decision easier for me," she said.

"Decision?" The question betrayed the muddle in his mind from surprise.

Gabriela's expression was fierce and determined. "I'm never going to be with a man, Papa. I can't stand the thought. And knowing what Sophie is going through… I'll never change my mind."

"You're young," he responded. "You'll grow out of this."

"No, I won't," she declared. "That's not who I am."

It was all too much for the Admiral. First finding Gabriela in her room like that, finding out what his little baby daughter had become… and then hearing about Sophie… he wanted to declare Gabbie a liar. He nearly did. But there was no deception in her fierce gaze. She wasn't lying.

Maybe it was just a few misunderstandings, maybe…

...maybe his other little girl wasn't facing the abuse of a domestic tyrant.

He needed time to process everything. "Return to your room," he intoned. "Judy will be here soon to prepare dinner. We will not speak of this with anyone." He sighed loudly. "I will wire to your cousin Maria about arranging a room for you at the Vallejo Estate. If you won't be schooled, you'll need to learn how to tend a home for when you find a husband."

"Didn't you hear a word I just said?", Gabriela asked. Tears filled her eyes.

"I heard the misguided words of a teenage girl who still has to grow up," he replied evenly, or rather, coldly. "I'll expect you at the dinner table. Leave my presence."

"Papa, you can't…"

"I said leave!", he shouted. "Do not try my patience!"

For a moment the eighteen year old did nothing. A scowl came to her face and, in one motion of her hand, she fired off a mocking salute. "Yes, Admiral sir, your sailor obeys." She turned on her heel, adopting what seemed to her to be a military posture, and marched out of the parlor.

The Admiral watched her go in sullen silence. A distant noise echoed from upstairs - she had slammed her bedroom door closed.

With his mind reeling the Admiral turned to his magazines and newspapers. Political discussions, speculation about the possibilities of war with either France or Japan… anything to keep his mind off of what the day had brought him. He would need to talk to Thomas, about Sophie and about Gabriela, and above all else he would have to be delicate with Senator Talaverda. Xavier Talaverda was still the senior, elected Senator of Lower California, and he had influence in Parliament. A social scandal about their daughters could make the man a powerful foe, which meant a powerful foe to the Navy.

A couple of hours had passed when there was a knock on the door. Expecting Judy, the Admiral stood and walked to the door himself.

But it wasn't his cook. It was a young Navy lieutenant, with bronze mestizo complexion and matching dark eyes and hair. He saluted. While he was keeping his discipline, it was clear that the young officer had been deeply affected. "Lieutenant Valdez, sir," he said. "We received a wire from the Admiralty. Admiral Litchfield thought you should see this as soon as possible, sir."

The Admiral took the telegram from Valdez's hand. His eyes scanned the text.

It took all of his iron discipline to keep from dropping it in shock.

FROM: PACIFIC RAILROAD STATION TOLEDO OLYMPIA.

PRESIDENTIAL TRAIN DERAILED AT COWLITZ RIVER. PRESIDENT SULLIVAN CONFIRMED DEAD, SECRETARY GRIMSBY STATUS UNCERTAIN.

[Raesene]

Interesting turn of events, both in the household and outside - and definitely unexpected.

[Steve]

July 1923


The news spread by wire all across that terrible weekend. President Neal Sullivan was dead, killed in a horrific train derailment as his train was crossing the Cowlitz River south of Centralia and Chehalis. A later investigation would show that engineers on the Presidential train had failed to notice a failing boiler valve when they'd made repairs to the train during the delay, leading to a violent boiler explosion that caused the fatal derailment.

Representative Grimsby, the Naval Secretary, died of his wounds the next day. Several staff members and aides of both men also perished or were critically wounded..

The tragedy brought the Cascadian people to their knees. Sullivan had been well-liked by the populace. Although he had reached his fifties in age, he had seemed to many to be a young and vital leader for the country, the embodiment of a new and vibrant Cascadia after the violence of the first two decades of the century, and his efforts to solve issues with Japan through diplomacy won him further public adoration that now turned into nation-wide mourning.

Under Constitutional guidelines, Secretary of State Alonso Muniz assumed the Presidency. The tragedy made him the first Hispanic President in the Republic's short history. He asked Senator Kaltwell, a Democratic Senator of Olympia, to assume the leadership of the Cabinet. Kaltwell, who had been a colleague and friend of Sullivan, agreed in a tearful address to a joint session of Parliament. Representative Gregory Pullman of Klamath, a National Liberal, became the new Naval Secretary.

The state funeral was held over a week later, with the remains being escorted from the church to Union Station for their journey to Tacoma and the family plot. The Government purchased extra land around the plot to be turned into a government-funded Presidential tomb. The funeral itself was full of the proper pageantry. Bagpipers and a military band played hymns of mourning. General Brewer and Admiral Garrett led a line of officers of both services' senior commands in the company of soldiers from the 1st Guards Regiment, "The Tricolor Guard", who marched in dress uniform with a riderless horse and with the cassion bearing the tricolor-draped coffin. The attendance of the majority of the foreign diplomats in the procession was joined by four national leaders of the continent: President William Harding of the United States, Prime Minister William Mackenzie King of Canada with the Governor-General the Duke of Devonshire, and Emperor Agustín II of Mexico. Former Presidents Lakeland and Matthews marched with the widow, Jean Sullivan, who received condolences from assorted world leaders and former statesmen ranging from former President Wilson of the United States to Emperor Franz Ferdinand of Danubia. Crowds stood along the entire procession route, after tens, even hundreds of thousands of Cascadians had spent the week going through the Central Rotunda of Parliament to view the laying in state of the casket.

The film recording of the funeral procession would be shown in theaters across the world.



The Garrett House
24 July 1923


A day after the funeral of President Sullivan had passed. The nation was still in mourning, flags were still at half-staff, and the Admiral was wearing a black band on the right arm of his uniform. The day had been spent in further briefings as Muniz got Kaltwell up to speed on the ongoing issues facing the Cascadian government.

After those meetings, and a few hours of meetings in the Admiralty, Admiral Garrett returned home. In a week's time Gabriela would be on her way to Vallejo and away from temptation, and he… would be in a quiet, lonely house. He was not looking forward to that.

But it's not like it wasn't quiet before, given how much you failed to pay attention to your daughter, a voice in his head accused him. How much of this is your fault?

The thought pained him for his entire trip home.

When he arrived at the door, Mei-Ling met him immediately. There were tears in her eyes and an upset look on her face. "She's gone!"

He needn't ask. He frowned. "What do you mean?"

Mei-Ling handed him a note. He read it.

And he immediately went to a taxi.

Pacific Bank
West Portland, Oregon


The Admiral's voice roared through the bank manager's office. "What do you mean you let her have the money?!"

The manager was the sort of quiet banker one expected to find at a major branch of a major bank. Thin, small, unassuming, with a bushy yet groomed mustache and beard. His brown eyes matched the color of his hair and he remained entirely calm and deferential at the uniformed, highly-ranked man glaring at him. "It was hers by law, Admiral."

"I am the authority on the family trust![/i]", he retorted. "No transaction can be made without my signature!"

"That is true, sir. She did not touch the trust. Miss Garrett's transactions were limited solely to the individual account left in her name that she had legal right to at her age."

And that was that. He controlled the family trust, derived from his salary and from incomes from stocks, from rents on family properties, and of course the Vallejo Estate, willed to Rachel from her father and from Rachel to their children, with him as the trustee.

But Rachel had also arranged accounts for her children using money that she had derived from their division of family rents and from her parents' accounts. These accounts were for them upon adulthood and intended, at least by Rachel, for schooling.

It was clear Gabriela had another use in mind.

The Admiral strode out of the office, thwarted, and went toward the door. As he approached the grand glass doors for the downtown bank, he was met by a bearded gentleman with a patrician's bearing. "Admiral," he said with a refined, spanish accent.

"Senator Talaverda."

The Senator nodded. "I see you have found out about them."

"I did." The Admiral saw he did not need to go into specifics.

Xavier Talaverda sighed deeply. "Youthful foolishness… you can never stop it if they are truly determined. Do not worry, I am not here to assign blame. Rafael Vallejo was a mentor to me, once upon a time, and I know how much shame this means for your family as well as mine. As far as I'm concerned, we are united in mourning for our daughters."

There was nothing to do but nod. The Senator did the same, and the two disappointed fathers walked out, their hearts heavy from the shame they felt, and the instinctive paternal fear for the lives of daughters who had run off and away from their sight.







August 1923

Alonso Muniz worked quickly to restore stability. The grieving for Sullivan helped him somewhat - relations with Britain were as good as they could be, and the Japanese agreed to a new round of talks on the Liaotung Peninsula. Japanese leaders and writers expressed grief for the death of Sullivan and, for the moment, tensions eased.

Despite the optimistic mood, there was still an impasse. Ultimately, the Liaotung Peninsula was a key holding for anyone desiring influence in Manchuria, and that meant that Japan's deepest desire was to obtain it. Much of the Japanese diplomacy was aimed in this direction; offering compensation for the Cascadian cession of the bases on the peninsula. Even more would be theirs if they added Tsingtao to the combination (although that was extremely unlikely, as Tsingtao was Cascadia's main gate into China's markets).

But to fathom such a cession would mean exciting the wrath of Parliament. Sullivan might have managed it, given time, but Muniz had none. He was a stand-in President and a known Hawk among the Party. While former Sullivanites backed the idea of a territory transfer to end the dissension with Japan, Muniz would only do so if Kartwell and the Cabinet pushed it, and the Liberals and some of the Democrats refused to consider it.

Japan tension to 9

UK tension at 0

Another submersible was ordered for the Navy force.





September 1923

A series of articles brought a premature end to the warming of relations with Tokyo after Sullivan's death. Citing sources in the Government, journalist Roger Noble of the Bremerton Naval Monthly magazine reported that there was "no chance at all" of Cascadia agreeing to cede the Liaotung Peninsula, and that the Nayy had just begun extra measures to defend the ports from a sneak attack.

Negotiation efforts confirmed this. Although the negotiations did not break off, the Japanese were clearly losing their patience. They regarded any Cascadian reinforcement of the Liaotung Peninsula as a prospective act of war. In Tokyo militarists urged the authorization of an assault.

Japan tension to 10

New forced circulation machinery is developed for the fleet for use in future engine plants. Improvements to the means of maintaining a supply of compressed air in submersibles promised improvements to future submersible construction. Three more subs were in fact ordered with the new enhancement in mind.







The death of Sullivan had afflicted the country, and the rise of the Hawks in the Government displeased dove Liberals and a sizable portion of the population against further conflict. Some marches came in major cities criticizing the government for not doing more to secure peace with Cascadia's former ally.

Unrest at 1

Intelligence sources in Russia pilfered submersible plans from the Soviet military.




October 1923

As the world's naval programs continued unabated through the year, there was an effort to curb them with an international treaty. Representatives from all of the world's leading naval powers had by now met at The Hague to debate if any restrictions to naval programs should be mandated by treaty.

The Cascadian delegation had been appointed by Sullivan before his death. Led by Senator Karl Green of Victoria, a Democrat who had taken Flagg's former seat with the blessings of the former occupant, the delegation also included first term Representative Thomas Garrett of Vallejo, whose presence was noted as interesting and peculiar by those who knew of his father's reputed distrust of naval disarmament proposals. He would prove a solid supporter of the arms limitations proposals that would see his father's new battleships scrapped in the yards, and of a tonnage limitation ratio that would make Cascadia the equal to France, the United States, Germany, and Japan - those states would be permitted 3 tons for every 5 British tons, with Russia allotted 2.5 tons and Austria and Italy restricted to 1.75 tons.

The treaty was popular in many circles. The Westminster Parliament, currently under the first ever Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald, was ready to embrace it. But the Germans insisted that their African Empire and Pacific trading interests justified a 4, and while the Cascadian delegates were willing to accept a 3, back in Portland Muniz likewise demanded a 4 for the need to maintain distant Pacific naval garrisons. Admiral Garrett's response was even fiercer: no limits whatsoever beyond what the Parliament itself would fund. The Navy Defense League staged a protest in Portland against the proposed limitations, and across the country letters poured in opposing or supporting the naval disarmament proposed.

In the end, the fierce opposition from several quarters, including the Cascadians, killed the conference. The recriminations were fierce among the participants: French newspapers accused the Cascadian Government of acting in bad faith by not supporting the terms proposed by their own delegation. The Soviets went further, proposinng to the European states that Cascadia be boycotted until it "renounced its imperialist aims in Asia".

The Germans, despite their own displeasure with the rating they were offered, joined the condemnation. "President Sullivan's successors are the same men who pushed Germany into conflict in the last decade," one paper reported. "We should expect nothing less of these brutes who destroyed the noble dream of their own great leader."

The sentiment was shared by some in Cascadia. Senator Green wrote an open letter to the public, charging Muniz and Kartwell with malfeasance in turning down the terms negotiated by his team. He now made public Sullivan's prior belief that Fleet Admiral Garrett should be forced to resign as Chief of Naval Operations as an "obstacle to peace and civilian direction of the government".

While many cheered this demand, just as many were incensed. Several newspapers thundered in retort that the Admiral was being "abused" by "socialists, defeatists, and pacifists". One writer, for the Las Vegas Daily Telegraph, declared "I would only see Admiral Garrett taken from the post in which he has won two wars if it is to make him President of the Republic". Indeed, a number of Liberals - mostly of the Abernathy faction, and all Hawks - approached the Admiral about making a Presidential run in 1924. He issued his response in The Oreganian's editorial section.

"I am honored by the sentiments of those citizens who believe me fit to govern our nation as its President. Nevertheless, I do not believe I would best serve the Republic in such a political capacity for I am not a politician. I am a Navy man and will always be a Navy man. My place is with the Service. I must therefore echo the words spoken by General Sherman over forty years ago when he faced the same situation: 'If nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve'." - Fleet Admiral Garrett's Letter to The Oreganian, dated October 28th, 1923

By this time, the controversy had destroyed Kartwell's government. As a colleague of Sullivan, Kartwell supported the Hague Naval Treaty, and was ready to push its passage: Emiliano Santiago, serving as Foreign Secretary, led the push against it within the Cabinet.

Kartwell decided to take the matter to the Senate in the last week of the month. He called them into session to debate the treaty. But word of his support for the ouster of Admiral Garrett and for the Naval Treaty had already poisoned the Hawk factions of the two central parties against him. In a devastating reversal, Senator Abernathy led a Hawk vote, including Conservatives and the two Populist Senators, to reject the treaty with a fair margin. When Kartwell attempted to apply the Whip, Santiago and the Democratic and Liberal Hawks in the Cabinet stood and announced their resignations from the Government. Abernathy, victorious, swooped in to call for a vote of no confidence, and again Kartwell lost.

Kartwell tried to recover by calling the House into session. He felt that there, with the narrow Democrat majority, he could win a vote and compel the Senate to accept the Whip. But it backfired on him: Emiliano Santiago rallied Liberal and Democrat Hawks to vote against him, the Conservatives and Populists joined them, and his trial vote failed. They immediately voted on a no confidence motion. Kartwell's government fell.

What replaced it was an unstable hodgepodge of Hawk interests. Jorge Montalbano of Los Angeles, the governor-appointed Senator of Lower California, informed President Muniz he had formed a new Government with Hawk Democrats, Hawk Liberals, "left" Conservatives, and the Populists. Jake Roberts returned to the Cabinet as Secretary of War; Conservative Senator John Lewis of Nevada became Attorney General, and Representative Victorio Vargas of Sonora, a Liberal, became Naval Secretary. Senator Abernathy remained in official Opposition, but agreed to support Montalbano's military policies if the new Government avoided domestic program legislation that the Opposition Liberals had opposed under Muniz and Sullivan.

Popular discontent with this political maneuvering was obvious, but the Opposition - beyond Abernathy's Liberals - was divided and uncertain. It would take an organized effort to unseat them. And such an effort was not possible.

Not yet, anyway.



France tension at 8 Russia at 6 Germany at 3

Unrest at 2

Naval Artillery planners reported a recommendation that new classes of patrol and scout cruisers could and should be equipped with double or triple gun turret mounts.






November 1923

US contractors, with government approval, licensed diesel engines to Cascadian manufacturers.





New lightweight fittings have been developed, promising greater weight-saving in future ship designs.




President Muniz and Secretary of State Montelbano assembled the military chiefs for meetings on the Manchurian situation. Some of the Hawks were already calling for an ultimatum to Japan and a declaration of war if Japan refused to negotiate on the matter. It was considered unlikely that the House would ever approve of such an aggressive measure.

Muniz opted for caution. He inquired on quietly dispatching an extra division of troops, outfitted with the best weaponry, to reinforce the division currently assigned to Liaotung. The proposal was that the ships would be cargo vessels with the troops living below. They would have to go unescorted to eliminate the possibility that the Japanese would discover their true nature.

Admiral Garrett considered it a workable plan. Brewer was more ambivalent - he would rather openly send the reinforcements and dare the Japanese to interfere. But he was overruled. The decision was made to send the 1st Guards Division in a series of cargo vessels sent out from Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland. Another vessel would load a new contingent of aircraft built by Seattle-based Boeing Aircraft that could carry bombs to drop on enemy troops, as well as reinforcement for the air squadron already stationed to the peninsula. The ships would depart by the end of the month.





December 1923


Unfortunately, the Cascadian plans were not as well-hidden as they thought. Japanese Naval Intelligence had considered the possibility and had experienced agents watching the various docks, where the stevedores were not so tight-lipped about what was going on, especially those of Socialist inclinations.

On December 8th, the Japanese Government issued a demarche to Cascadia: any attempt to reinforce the 20,000 man garrison of the Peninsula would be taken as a sign of hostile intent, and Japan would react. It was clear to all that the Japanese had gotten wind of what was being planned. Japanese army units in Manchuria were reinforced and began to deploy to the border of the Cascadian-held territory.

Days of intense deliberation broke out, joined by arguments in the Parliament. Several leading politicians of Dove persuasion called for a step back from the brink. Rhetoric about Japan's time as an ally was employed, as was the prospect of a wasteful war over "imperial trivialities". The Hawks thundered with even more force, declaring the Japanese a threat to Cascadian economic security and rights. "We must not let China be turned into a Japanese satellite," urged one Liberal Representative. Less-respectful colleagues resorted to loyalty politics: refusal to support a strong line of defiance to the Japanese demarche was "traitorous" and "defeatist".

Meanwhile, the Cascadian military made quiet preparations, although Muniz refused to call for mobilization of the Army and Navy. He invited the Japanese Ambassador, Hidetaka Saito, to personal negotiations that seemed one last hope for peace.

Meanwhile, the troops openly departed, but bound for Tsingtao, a slight concession to the Japanese that was barely recognized as one.

Japan tension to 11







The Garrett House
West Portland, Oregon
25 December 1923


The family's Christmas gathering was the most somber in years. Gabriela's disappearance cast a pallor that exceeded the growing likelihood of a war with Japan. Even the children seemed to recognize this, although little Rachel wouldn't let that stop her from playing with her youngest cousins, including Peter, the fourth of Thomas and Anne-Marie's children. Rafael and Georgia were expecting again as well.

Which, of course, meant that Georgie would be facing her husband being at sea again, on war duty, as a pregnant navy wife with a toddler. "You are welcome to stay here," the Admiral said to her. "Mei-Ling is good with children, and Rachel will have her cousins to play with."

"I'll consider it," she said, with Rafael nodding in agreement.

They were still awaiting the final touches of dinner as the Admiral stepped up to where Thomas was looking out at the backyard through the windowed patio door. Snow blanketed the ground. "Do you remember Christmas of '03, Pa?", Thomas asked quietly.

"I do," the Admiral replied quietly. "It snowed. You and your sister ganged up on your poor brother with snowballs." A quiet smile came to his face. "Your mother thought it was funny."

"It was," Thomas said. He looked to him. "It's really happening again, isn't it? We're going to war with the people who helped us fight the Kaiser and the Tsar."

"Sometimes yesterday's friends become tomorrow's enemies," the Admiral rumbled in reply. "It's never easy."

"We should have never taken that damn peninsula," Thomas growled. "If Japan had received it, none of this would be happening."

"Maybe, maybe not. They have ambitions in China, as do we." The Admiral glanced at his boy. "You're still sore about the conference."

"We had a chance, Pa. A chance to make the world safer. And you helped to wreck it."

"Such conferences never work," the Admiral replied. "Even if all powers agree to something, they'll start breaking it as soon as its convenient. The best way to keep peace is to follow the advice of Vegetius."

"That's what we've been doing!", Thomas hissed. "And look at where that's led us!" He brought a hand up and lowered it, his scarred face frowning intently. "Pa, you can't just keep building battleships, they're getting too expensive! Someone has to step up and say enough is enough!"

"It is the cost our Republic must pay to be great, son. You should know that."

Thomas ran a finger along the edge of his eyepatch. "I do."

An awkward silence passed. It was Thomas who decided to end the stalemate between them. "Have you heard anything from the detectives?"

The Admiral shook his head. "They tracked Gabbie to Boise, but they've found no trace where she went afterward."

"She took all of the money that Ma left her, and I'm told Isabela had even more. They could be living pretty well right now."

"They're a pair of teenagers, they won't know how to control that money." The Admiral's fists clenched. "Damn that girl's stubbornness."

Thomas smiled sadly. "She's a Garrett, Pa. Grandpa Jim always said our family was stubborn as mules, especially toward each other."

Memories of his late father caused the Admiral to sigh wistfully. "Yes, he did." He gave Thomas a look. "And you never suspected your sister's… inclinations?"

He shrugged. "That she was a sapphist? No, Pa. No, I never… I knew she was a bit… strange, I guess. She never cared much for boys, that was obvious. And she always wanted to be with Isabela. But I never thought it was for that."

"Where did I go wrong?", the Admiral mumbled.

Thomas put a hand on the Admiral's shoulder. "I don't think you did, Pa. Not over something like this."

A knock on the front door ended all further conversation. They turned from the corner and watched as John and Marie, always eager to help, rushed to join Mei-Ling at the door.

What surprised them was Marie's happy shriek. "Auntie!"

A flutter of hope went through the Admiral. Gabbie came home. She came home for Christmas! Those thoughts remained in place as he moved as quickly as his old body could carry him, through the hall, past the parlor,, and to the foyer, where he found John and Marie happily hugging the waist of….

....Sophie, who was shedding her winter jacket for Mei-Ling to take.

"Aunt Sophie!", John cried, happy. "I've missed you!"

Sophie smiled at him and rubbed his head of dark hair wistfully. "And I've missed you, Johnny." She looked to the Admiral and Thomas.

A cold feeling gripped the Admiral's chest at the sight. A long scar ran down her left cheek, where she had once been cut. Her nose was now slightly off-center in the way that both men had seen in their military service, the sign of a soldier or sailor who had their noses broken in a scuffle and never got them properly treated. Even now her left eye was nearly swollen shut and surrounded by an angry, dark bruise.

"Auntie, what's wrong with your face?", Marie asked innocently.

A forced smile came to Sophie. She set down the large luggage bag that she'd been holding in her left hand - it was now evident that she'd been holding two, with the other still by the door - and gently touched her niece's cheek. "I had a little accident, Marie. It's nothing to worry about."

"Merry Christmas, Sophie!", Thomas cried out, stepping up and joining his children in welcoming her home.

"Merry Christmas, Tom," she said back, accepting the hug.

By now the others had come in. The Admiral stepped up to embrace his returned daughter. "Sophie, I'm so happy you're home," he said. "It's been too long."

"It has, Papa," she said. Her voice sounded like it would soon start to break. "Oh, Papa, I'm so sorry for disappointing you. I…"

"Shhh. It's fine. You were young, and you were swept up in love."

"But I… I chose so poorly...." Sophie sniffled. "And now… now I… I just can't live with him anymore. He's a beast, Papa, an angry beast. I can't imagine how he can be such a scholar and yet…"

A dark look crossed her brothers. Fists were clenching. Anne-Marie frowned deeply and stepped forward to examine Sophie's face. "Oh, dear Sophie," she said, her French accent little diluted from her long years living in Cascadia. "I'll get something for you."

"Papa, will you forgive me?"

"I already did," the Admiral said. "You were in love. Choosing to marry so quickly… it happens to young people some time."

"Not about that." Sophie shook her head. Her finger went to the bruise. "This… he gave me this when I told him I was going to come to see him. We had just returned to his home here in the city… And now I know what I have to do. I know it'll hurt everyone, it'll hurt the family, but I can't... I can't go on..."

"What are you talking about, Sophie?", asked Thomas.

Sophie drew in a breath. "I know it will be a social scandal… but I can't live with him anymore." She swallowed. "I'm filing for a divorce. I'm going to divorce Theodore."

[LaCroix]

One would think that two photographs - one before the wedding, and one current, would quell any social outrage _against_ them...
For that issue, at least. But the press will find out about the other daughter, for sure...


The sweet drama...

[Steve]

Do remember the time period. Being a divorcee was, in some circles, a major social black mark. Especially upper class conservative circles.

[Steve]

January 1924

After New Year's, President Muniz and Secretary of State Montelbano met with Ambassador Saito of Japan. The situation was critical; the Japanese government, under increasing militarist pressure, had criticized the Cascadians for sending the 1st Guard Division to Tsingtao, declaring the act "An aggressive deployment meant to destabilize the balance of power in China". As the decision had been made as a concession to Japanese concerns, the criticism stung both men bitterly, and they were determined not to bend to Japanese demands.

Ambassador Saito had his work cut out for him. History could not fault him for his actions, though, as his grasp of the situation led him to make moderate proposals that, in calmer times, would have settled the dispute. But now they seemed to be concessions entirely in Japan's favor, and the two leaders could not accept them. The Cascadian reply of maintaining the status quo was similarly unacceptable to Japan, not with the Cascadian naval program as it was. The Japanese saw the issue as one of survival: Port Arthur and Tsingtao in Cascadian hands, not to mention Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, gave the Cascadians strong means to sustain a naval blockade of the Home Islands. Measures to preclude this possibility were necessary to them, but said measures could only serve to undermine Cascadian authority in the Republic's Chinese concessions, and ultimately to leave them vulnerable to Japanese power.

By the end of the first week of the month, it was clear to both sides that the impasse had become unbreakable. Sensing what this meant, President Muniz offered to freeze all further military developments and invite British arbitration of Chinese issues if Japan agreed to pull some of the troops away from Liaotung. Time might yet find a way out of the situation.

Saito received a signal from Tokyo: further talks are acceptable, and Japan would not send further troops. But the military chiefs successfully pointed out the meaningless of this: only the 5th Infantry Division currently held the Peninsula, while the Japanese had several times their number in position to launch an immediate attack or to support an attack with reserves. "We must send in the 1st Guards, or we should just sign away the Peninsula," General Brewer declared.

Muniz would later state that he didn't believe that holding both Liaotung and Tsingtao was worth the cost that would be incurred. Whatever he later believed, at this point he acted in line with Hawk mentalities. The Republic would continue negotiation, but it would not be bullied. He ordered Admiral Garrett to dispatch the Battle Fleet to Chinese waters, accompanied by two more divisions in transports. A limited call-up of ten more divisions was ordered, to provide a reserve for further East Asian military action.

The orders went out and the reservists and draftees reported for service. The Fleet departed from its ports in San Francisco and Bremerton. The last two years of preparation paid off - with the assistance of pre-arranged course information and short-range wireless, the two forces rendezvoused in the Pacific en route to Pearl Harbor for the first leg of the journey to China.

By this point in time, the Japanese government had lodged official protests and canceled all naval and army leave. The Japanese fleet made ready to depart its bases for the Yellow Sea. Their goal would be to intercept the Cascadian fleet in Korea Bay and prevent the reinforcements from arriving at Port Arthur.

A dejected Ambassador Saito turned in his passports on the 22nd of the month and booked passage home on a British vessel, convinced war had become inevitable. His Cascadian counterpart in Tokyo did the same on the 24th.



The Admiralty
Portland, Federal District
9 January 1924


The Admiralty's leadership had listened to Admiral Garrett's proposal, and all agreed.

Now the assorted leaders - Admiral Litchfield, the Vice CNO; Admiral Jenkins, the Chief of Naval Design and Procurement; Admiral Hawke, the Director of Naval Intelligence; Admiral Farmer, the Chief of Personnel - watched in silence as Admiral Garrett handed the official orders to Admiral Phillip Wallace. "Admiral, the Battle Fleet is yours," he stated, "and with it command of all Cascadian naval forces in the Far East. The war, should it come, will be yours to fight."

"I understand sir," replied Wallace, with most of the Scots brogue faded from his accent. "I will bring the Republic victory."

"I expect nothing less," said the Admiral, who had once been given a similar charge when sent to command the squadron that forced Manila Bay in what was now a very different time.

Salutes were exchanged. Statements of support made. In the end, Admiral Wallace departed, bound for the train to Bremerton and his flagship, the battleship Titan.

Japan tension to 12




The Garrett House
West Portland, Oregon

Rafael and Thomas joined the Admiral in the parlor. The two navy men changed into civilian wear. Upstairs Georgie and their children were resting, preparing to depart for Bremerton where Rafael would join Wallace's staff on the Titan. But tonight, they had other purposes.

It was dark outside when Mei-Ling escorted their visitor in. Professor Walters still had the bushy mustache they'd first seen four years before, the same hairstyle, the same eyes… but there was something to them now. Behind the intelligent eyes shined a new, dark light of some form, like a power that had awakened since they'd last seen the man.

"Professor," the Admiral said in a hard, but neutral, tone.

"Admiral." Walters nodded to them. "I've come to bring my wife home."

"She is home," the Admiral replied.

"Your daughter is… a difficult woman," Walters said. "I admit I allowed weakness to sway me to accepting her charms, but I never knew how deranged she could become. Her injuries…"

"We're not fools, sir," Rafael remarked. "We know the wounds on Sophie were not mere injuries or accidents. You have mistreated her."

"I am her husband. I have responsibilities, the same as her, and I had… trouble with her madness."

"You continue to insult my daughter," the Admiral remarked. "Your defense is not something I believe."

"What you believe is immaterial. What matters is whom the universities will believe," Walters declared. "Will they accept the word of a deranged student over a distinguished professor? If she persists on this course, Sophie's hopes of acceptance into academia will evaporate. Not a single dean or president will stand against me over her." Walters looked to the door. "Did you hear me, Sophie?! Your career is stillborn if you don't stop this foolishness!"

He had been facing toward a door out. But it was a third door that opened, from the kitchens, and Sophie Garrett stepped through. Most of her wounds had been healed over time. But it was still clear she'd suffered with him. She approached him in a plain white blouse and gray skirt. "Theodore," she said.

"Sophie, let's go home. This is between you and me," he insisted.

"Yes," she said. She approached him. "It is." She looked to her father and siblings. "Thank you, Papa, for your help. And yours as well, Thomas, Raffie." Her eyes turned back to Walters and she approached him. "I should have accepted this earlier."

"Yes, you should have," he answered as she approached. He smiled and leaned in slightly to kiss her.

He never saw the punch coming.

Sophie's fist caught him in the jaw. Her other fist found his belly and he fell over. His mouth hung open in shock.

"I am not going back to you, you beast," she hissed.

Walters remained on the floor a moment. So she continued. "I filed for divorce."

"You must take that back!", he shouted. "A divorce will make us a mockery!"

"We're already a mockery, Theodore." Sophie turned away from him. "I wish we'd never met."

"Turn back here this instant!", Walters screamed. "I mean it!? Right now! Sophie, you can't!"

But she had. Sophie had already left the room. Thomas and Raffie interposed themselves to stop Walters at the door.

"You can't do this," he rasped. "I have rights as her husband!"

"And we have rights and privileges as her family," retorted Raffie. "Now leave."

The transformation completed before their eyes. The professor's face twisted into a grotesque reflection. His fists clenched and he seemed to draw himself up. He lunged for the door.

The two brothers caught him. He fought back. He fought back hard. He bit, he punched, he kicked at the two. But they were the Admiral's sons, and they were Rachel's sons, and she had not been a small woman - he certainly wasn't even a moderately-sized man, but on the large scale, and his sons had inherited some of that. Walters' lack of size, lack of mass, soon showed against him. Raffie and Thomas threw him to the floor.

He might have lunged again if not for the ominous cocking sound from the table. He turned and faced the Admiral with a hunting shotgun pointed straight ahead. A second cock heralded the arrival of Judy Freeman, a second shotgun in hand, and held by someone who knew what the hell she was doing with it.

"You'd allow that nigger to shoot me?!", Walters raged.

"She is a part of this household, and has every right to defend it," the Admiral replied plainly. He lowered his own weapon - Judy was, in his estimation, a far better shot, and at 71 years of age he wasn't in the best shape to brandish a weapon. "Leave this house."

"I'm going to destroy that little tramp," the angry man vowed. "I'll destroy her!"

"No, you will not," the Admiral intoned. "You will accept her decision and leave our lives behind."

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"

"A pathetic, sad little man, who took out the frustrations of his life on the woman he swore to cherish," the Admiral remarked. "And ultimately a silly fool who thinks that academic respect can be used as a club. Maybe you're able to cajole and push university leaders into blacklisting my little girl, Professor, but can you do the same to me?"

And the answer… was mixed. Academics didn't always care for military officials, after all.

On the other hand, many universities enjoyed varying patronage from alma mater and governments, and if it became known that Professor Walters had earned the wrath of the Admiral, there were those who would calculate that losing a respected historian was a lesser evil to gaining the enmity of Cascadia's most respected military officer and the immense number of supporters he enjoyed in politics.

Walters' rage nearly cost him control, but self-preservation at the sight of the gun held toward him overpowered that frustrated rage and humiliation and held it in check. The little man seemed to vibrate at the conflict of these two forces within him as he stormed from the parlor. Thomas and Judy followed him. Soon afterward, the front door slammed.

The Admiral let out a weary sigh. Walters was an unwelcome distraction for him. War with Japan was imminent.

But this was for his daughter, and he had already failed one of his little girls.

He entered the kitchens. Judy's handiwork was mostly cleaned up, and there was a faint smell of cleaning soaps in the air near the sink where Sophie was staring off into space with tear-filled eyes. "I loved him," she mumbled. "I loved him so much. He was so charming, and brilliant, and… and… how could I not see…"

"Men like him hide that beast. They're usually ashamed of it. And that, in the end, only makes the savage creature more powerful."

Without a further word, the Admiral took his weeping daughter into his arms.





February 1924

During the month, designers reported they had successfully tested and employed the new anti-sub K-guns. They were ready for fleet use. Naval Artillery announced it had completed prospective testing on a new 18" naval rifle that could one day be employed on battleships above 50,000 tons.






The world waited with baited breath as the Cascadian fleet approached China. The Japanese, hearing via wireless that Wallace's battle line had been seen near Iwo Jima, deployed south to intercept him in the Ryukyus.

But Wallace opted for the less direct route. He swung southwest and skirted Formosa, slipping through the Japanese cordon. It was a close thing: Japanese cruisers had drawn close enough that they made visual contact. But it was too late; they only did so as Wallace's ships were already past the Ryukyus and sailing for the Yellow Sea, where they rendezvoused with the cruisers of the China Squadron and the transports carrying the 1st Guards Division.

The Japanese fleet turned and chased. Radio signals to shore announced that the Cascadian fleet was entering the Yellow Sea.

Tokyo made the fateful decision on the 13th.

An hour before dawn on the morning of the 14th, artillery cannons roared along the Cascadian-Japanese lines in Liaotung, and elements of three Japanese infantry divisions crashed into the lines of the 5th Division. The Japanese declaration of war against Cascadia was delivered through the British Ambassador thirty minutes before the attack began.



The Cascadian troops in Liaotung had been preparing defenses for months. Veterans of the fighting in Lorraine in 1909 and 1910 remembered the German defenses that had bedeviled them and sought to replicate the same. The Japanese also remembered, of course, and sent infiltration parties ahead with the initial shelling to attack in said trenches. The infiltration attack met with moderate success - the initial Japanese waves overran over half of the trench line of the Cascadian defenses. By the end of the first day of fighting, the Cascadian troops had been driven back by nearly a mile

But the Japanese success had cost them blood, and their Navy's failure to intercept Wallace allowed the Cascadian fleet to bring into Dalniy (Dalian) reinforcements, including the 1st Guards, who disembarked first during the 15th. By the 16th they were being thrown into a localized counterattack that blunted the Japanese offensive and cost them several trenches. The other divisions would be fed into the battle over the next few days, where space allowed - gradually the lines stabilized with Japan still inside the Cascadian Zone by nearly 600 yards, but facing a dug-in foe.

This was not necessarily in Cascadia's favor: feeding and maintaining tens of thousands of troops would require constant re-supply by water, and the Japanese were determined to cut the supply line with a close blockade. Just as much, Wallace was determined to establish, as soon as possible, an effective blockade of Japan itself, for which he required more ships and, perhaps, a victory over Japan's battle fleet.



The war on the sea began with a smaller action. On the 17th the Richland sailed into the Formosa Strait and made contact with the Japanese cruiser Suma and the destroyers Tachikaze and Kamikaze. Although outnumbered, Captain Clarkson gave the order to engage. The Richland spent the next hour in a fierce battle, landing several hits on the Suma while enduring enemy fire. The cruiser took hits as well: two shell hits caused salt water to enter feed tanks, and fifty minutes into the battle a shell destroyed Richland's torpedo tubes.





The Vancouver-class cruiser was eventually forced to break off from the motionless but still-firing Suma, moving south and out of visual range of her foes. While doing so she came into proximity of a Japanese merchant vessel. The crew of the ship abandoned their vessel as Richland approached, making it an easy target.



After the repairs necessary to the machinery, the Richland resumed a northerly track and re-engaged with the enemy destroyers. One would be crippled by her six and three-inch shellfire before night fell and contact was broken.

Although Richland was heavily battered, Cascadian forces soon confirmed that she had sunk the Suma and Tachikaze. Presumed lost was the submersible Porpoise, which had been in the area - a week later the damaged sub limped into Manila Bay, wounded by Japanese depth charges.



By then, it was known that the Battle of the Formosa Straits had been a resounding first blow by the Cascadian Navy, seizing the emotional initiative from the Japanese Navy to start the war.





Cascadia received formidable reinforcement within days of the start of the war. On February 17th, the United States of America declared war on the Empire of Japan in compliance with the Second Chicago Treaty.

With the war formerly begun, Admiral Garrett restored the funding for enhanced training into artillery firing accuracy and torpedo warfare. A re-deployment of ships was made, with the Sovereign and Superb recalled for the moment to Hawai'i to help prevent any Japanese attacks on Cascadia's trans-oceanic supply line. The Warrior, Ranger, and the Pratchett-class destroyers were sent to Manila to support trans-oceanic supply convoys and help secure local naval superiority to begin an invasion of Formosa.




Sovereign Superb sent back to NAWC, Warrior and Ranger and Pratchett DDs sent to SEA


The Japanese sneak attack helped to galvanize popular support. The anti-war movement accused Muniz and Montelbano of manipulating Japan into the attack, an unfair accusation especially for Montelbano who, despite his Hawk inclinations, did desire peace. But for the vast majority of Cascadians, it was a case of a virtual sneak attack by a jealous former ally, and they would flock to the colors to protect their nation. The anti-war movement's marches were damp squibs that had no hope of effecting policy.


Unrest 0


March 1924


The fighting in China continued. A fresh Japanese offensive was thrown at the Cascadian lines; this time, however, the Cascadians were ready for the Japanese infiltrators with special pickets set forward in foxholes, and the infiltration attacks were absorbed by this measure. The Japanese lunged at the Cascadian lines and were bloodily repulsed. Newspapermen would gleefully report to the Cascadian people that the 2nd Guards Regiment had again earned its nickname of "The Iron Wall" from its total repulses of repeated enemy attacks on its sector of the line.

Behind the lines, General Andrew Laffler assumed command of the newly-designated 4th Army, the now-five division force holding the peninsula. "The entirety of the Zone is now one large armed camp," reported a war reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A reporter for the Times told his English readers of the humanitarian efforts of the Royal Navy, who came in to evacuate civilians from the Peninsula with the blessing of Admiral Wallace and the Cascadian Navy. The East Asia Squadron of the Royal Navy ended up evacuating at least half of the peninsula's population over the following months. For those who remained, rationing and military rule were the order of the day, but so was the money of the Cascadian military for those with the means and wit to provide services for the thousands upon thousands of soldiers, sailors, and officers of the Cascadian defenses.

Design experts provide a new refinement to potential torpedo protection systems.



Cascadian submersibles, many operating from Manila and Tsingtao, began their hunt for Japanese shipping in earnest, sinking 10 ships during the course of the month. Only one Japanese sub managed a sinking, of a cargo ship heading toward Hong Kong, after which it was caught and destroyed by Cascadian destroyers in the region.



A Japanese mine off Korea sank the CRS Pressly.



American ships caught a large number of Japanese ships in Caribbean waters.




The Japanese made good on the Richland's raid off Formosa. With the assistance of long-range tenders, the Yakaze, Shimakaze, and Sawakaze raided a merchant convoy designated M2251 being escorted to Hawai'i by the Abraham Lincoln and William T. Sherman.








The two Cascadian ships were 700-tonners, their three Japanese adversaries 1,500-tonners, and the size difference doomed the convoy. Within an hour of the battle being started, the Sherman was sinking from the effects of the Japanese gunfire.



Lincoln went down over forty minutes later. With the escorts annihilated, the Japanese hunted down the six merchant ships and sank them all.





The disaster was an embarrassment to the Cascadian Navy. Dove politicians used this as grist in their Opposition arguments, declaring the Admiralty's policies to be the cause of the attack due to their emphasis on building capital ships and not completely replacing the older destroyer fleet.


With the need to support a blockade fleet, the Navy ordered expansion of the base facilities at Tsingtao. The costs incurred meant that even with the impending war budget, the work on the Arondight and Curtana had to be suspended.




The Navy shifted more vessels around in response to the Japanese attack on Convoy M2251.



April 1924


The Cascadian-Japanese fighting remained in stalemate. Cascadia was still trying to secure her supply lines to Dalien and Port Arthur - no offensive to drive the Japanese away could be mounted until the Japanese fleet had been driven back from the shipping lanes.

German agents were accused of stealing plans for Cascadian HE shells. The Cascadian government protested this action.



The Japanese submersibles were more active in the month, sinking four Cascadian ships in the Yellow Sea. But they fell far behind the Cascadian count, with Cascadian subs sinking 9. Additionally the Apache and Navajo each sank a Japanese ship off the Chinese coast. Fresh from Manila repair yards, Richland caught a Japanese tanker leaving Balikpapan and sank her.





Japanese plans to raid off Alaska were called off.






Near the end of the month, on the 27th, the Japanese battlecruisers Kirishima and Mimasaka led a squadron of four destroyers to raid a Cascadian convoy detected by Japanese submersibles as it neared Tsingtao.





CRS Courageous
Near 34.04N 120.56E off the Chinese Coast
27 April 1924


The ships of the 2nd Battle Scout Squadron, 1st Division, steamed their way past the merchant ships steaming for Tsingtao as part of convoy TS-4. On the flag bridge of the ship, Rear Admiral Lawton Smythe swept the seas with his binoculars. The skies were overcast and the exhaust smoke from his ships was spraying out far, courtesy of the strong gale winds howling from the northwest. The Courageous and her sister ship, the Gallant, moved forward accompanied by four destroyers of the new McCoy-class. Far head, the veteran scout cruiser Bakersfield had moved past the convoy and signaled the awaited signal: "Enemy vessel sighted."

On the command bridge Captain Joshua Rogers was already giving the order, and the wail of the klaxons and the voice of one of Rogers' officers summoned the crew of the battlecruiser to their battle stations.

The ships charged to the southeast, speeding to flank speed to intercept the enemy before they could fire at the slow, helpless convoy. The Bakersfield continued to signal the believed identities of their foes. Soon the word came: "Enemy battlecruisers spotted."




At 0925 local, the 15" guns on the Courageous thundered. In the distance there was indication of a hit. Within a minute it looked like another hit had taken them in the superstructure. A potential bridge hit? Smythe couldn't see.

Ahead more signals came from the other ships, and Smythe himself saw the Japanese destroyers moving toward them. "Signal to bridge and to Gallant, turn to port. We need to keep them from getting in a torpedo run."

"Aye sir."

The secondary and primary guns on the Courageous continued to thunder. One shot from their five inchers landed a hit on an enemy destroyer. The enemy destroyers, facing the fire of the Cascadian ships, moved close enough to fire torpedoes before falling back on Kirishima and Mimasaka. Smythe let Rogers and Captain Obregon on the Gallant take charge for evasive maneuvers to avoid the torpedoes. "Port again. Bring us back on the enemy battlecruisers."

With this maneuver complete, the fire between the two sides picked up. Smythe swallowed and focused on holding the sea's spaces in his head. The convoy needed to be covered until it was safely away. And if Smythe could take out an enemy battlecruiser…




Now the two duos lined up and started battering each other, the battle being truly joined at the top of the hours. Smythe felt his blood rush. For the first time in six years, the Cascadian Battle Fleet was engaged with an enemy. And the stakes were Cascadia's empire in East Asia.

Dark puffs on the profiles of the enemy vessels were evidence of the incoming fire, even as the 15"-inchers on the Courageous thundered their fury yet again, a fury that made the deck shake. Shells rained down around both sides. Their respective gunners had a formidable task, trying to track and accurately hit enemy battlecruisers capable of speeds above twenty-five knots.

And both sides were delivering hits. Smythe saw evidence of the hits on the enemy, particularly the one with the outline of the Kirishima. Meanwhile Gallant signaled she had a fire just after 1004.

Minutes passed. A thunderous blast tore through Smythe's concentration. "We just lost the aft turret!", one of the officers shouted.

Damn. Three guns out of commission. That gave the enemy a possible advantage.

An advantage that was quickly shown to not be decisive. The Kirishima was clearly starting to fall out of line. Her hits were severe, her drives were failing. And still the fire continued.

For Smythe, time almost lost meaning. There was only the cloudy sky and the murky sea, agitated by the increasing wind. Shells were fired, shells rained down on them, and some found their mark. Both Cascadian ships were taking damage, but he had the position of being able to finish off the Kirishima.





Then, into the battle's second hour, the Japanese destroyers darted forward again. A spout of fire and a ferocious blast geysered beside Gallant. The Cascadian battlecruiser had taken a torpedo hit. It would, give the protection built into it, not be immediately endangered. But it would definitely require caution from Gallant on her activities.

The Japanese may have felt a morale boost from the torpedo hit. If it did, it was lost two minutes later. A shell from either Courageous or Gallant struck Kirishima in the turret.



There was as massive fireball that engulfed the Japanese ship. Smythe, nobody, would ever see Kirishima again.

The loss of the Kirishima took the fight out of the enemy. The other vessel broke away steadily to the south, exchanging shots with the two victorious Cascadian ships until it was safely away. The O'Hare was detailed to find survivors of the Kirishima and the rest of the force turned north to meet up with the convoy.











The battle, with the loss of one Japanese battlecruiser and, Smythe would later learn, a Japanese destroyer, was just the thing to take away the sting of what happened to Convoy M2251. The victory was lauded in newspapers. Smythe and his superiors, including Admiral Garrett, could consider the victory a vindication for the Admiralty's policies.

The Navy funded further base improvement work in Sumatra, Kamchatka, and the Liaotung peninsula.

The new war budget led to three more submersibles being ordered.



May 1924

Naval armoring experts reported progress in formulating a specialized decapping belt for warship armor.



An unanticipated flash of genius led to advanced weight saving methods being found before planners thought they would ever achieve it.





The Cascadian submersibles were still leading the commerce war, claiming another strong month with ten Japanese merchant ships sunk. The cost was two lost submersibles from Japanese countermeasures.



Japanese cruisers refused to engage a Cascadian force off Jeju Island, south of Korea.





The base expansion orders continued, with new fleet facilities ordered for Guam and Manila Bay. The latter met with perfunctory permission from the Republic of the Philippines, which declared war on Japan on May 4th following the sinking of a Philippine-flagged vessel north of Luzon by a Japanese submersible operating under cruiser rules. The Japanese charged that the Filipino vessel had been carrying food to the Cascadian garrison at Liaotung.





June 1924

The militarists in Tokyo were outmaneuvered by the peace faction, who foresaw that defeat of Japan at the hands of a roused Cascadia backed by the industry and wealth of the United States. Japanese officials forwarded a peace offer to the Cascadian government through the British, offering concessions in Manchuria and reparations in exchange for peace.

The Cascadians, however, were in no mood to make peace on light terms. Anger over what many saw as the treachery of a former ally fueled the Hawks' popularity. Montelbano and Muniz contemplated the offer, but it was insufficient for the mood of the country. The counter-offer would make the Japanese recoil in disgust: they would be forced to cede Formosa to Cascadian control and withdraw militarily from Manchuria. It was the kind of terms that could only be understood if Cascadia had shattered Japan's strength. It had not done so. The Japanese, understandably, refused the peace offer and resolved to fight on.






Armoring experts finished testing to prove the worthiness of new decapping belts for ship armor. Meanwhile officers from Naval Ordnance reported to the Chief of Naval Design and Procurement that they were ready to place orders for new superheavy shells to be used as AP rounds.





Cascadia's submersible warfare continued unabated, with another 8 Japanese ships sunk in the month at the cost of another Cascadian sub.

But this time the Japanese also won a key victory: a Japanese submersible on long-range patrol torpedoed and sank CRS Bremerton northwest of Samoa. Captain Lawler and much of his crew went down with their ship, including the trophy she had won for her victory in the prior year's shooting competition. Four Cascadian merchant vessels also went down to the Japanese torpedoes, and the armored cruiser Kinugasa began a long reign of terror in the waters between Hawai'i and the North American West Coast by sinking a lone Cascadian cargo vessel.







Japanese efforts to cut off Cascadia's supply lines to East Asia continued. The battlecruiser Mishima led a force of destroyers after a troop convoy at the northwest corner of the Marianas, making contact on June 11th.

Meanwhile, steaming in from the north, the venerable Warrior, the first of the battlecruisers to sail the seas, made her way to protect the exposed convoy.

[Steve]

CRS Warrior
18.40N 144.37E, The Northern Marianas
11 June 1924


With a belly full of breakfast and a head buoyed by the miracle of coffee, Captain Michael Andrews surveyed the dawn-lit seas around his old warhorse as they steamed to the southeast. The opening day was cloudy, but the wind was gentle, a breeze barely stirring the flags adorning the Warrior's mast. The red-haired, red-bearded husky warrior was the latest master of this vessel, the world's first battlecruiser. After twenty years and two rebuilds, she was in many ways still the same ship that had slid off the slipways in 1905, but the differences were telling with her boilers burning oil now. Her two 12" gun turrets, bow and aft, had been re-equipped with new guns, the best of that caliber. They were joined by the two 10" gun turrets on either side of the ship - her broadside was thus four 12" and four 10" guns, with the weak side having another four 10"-ers to fire. Back in the day she'd combined the separate firepower of line battleships and armored cruisers into a single hull with the protection of the first and the speed of the latter. Now she was outgunned by the vast majority of the world's battlecruisers. But she still had teeth, and she'd shown them in the battles against Germany in two wars, fighting the Kaiser's Navy in the Marianas, the Carolines, and the North Sea and the Baltic. Dozens of her sailors ahd bled and died upon her metal decks, investing the steel creature with their spirits in the process. Now the Warrior was being called upon to fight again, and under Andrews the old lady was ready for action.

"We're coming up on the convoy, Captain," reported watch officer Lt. Karl Fredericks.

"That we are." He looked out at their escorts. Warrior was one of the oldest remaining ships in the fleet - the Jackson D. Kelley and Leonard H. McCoy were two of the newest. Ahead of them the Richland was already entering formation with the convoy.


And then the signal came over the wireless. Captain Clarkson had spotted unknown vessels coming from the east. Another signal soon joined the first: Japanese ships sighted. One was a battlecruiser.

And almost certainly a battlecruiser superior to the Warrior.

"Sound battle stations," ordered Captain Andrews. The order was given and obeyed - the ship's sirens ordered her sailors to their combat stations. Deck guns were manned, the turreted guns were loaded with their first salvos. The ship accelerated to her full 26 knot flank speed for combat.

Already Andrews was forming a plan in his head. He knew from wireless that reinforcements were moving up from the south to join the convoy as well. If he could get the attention of the enemy ship, make it focus its efforts on him and not the helpless troop transports… then maybe the convoy could be saved.

"Sir, we have identification from Richland," said Fredericks. "It's a Mishima."



Andrews nodded and set his jaw. The Mishima was ten years old herself. But her protection was newer, she had a knot of speed advantage on Warrior, and she severely outgunned Andrews' ship with eight 14" guns in four double turrets. "Let's hope her gunners are lousy shots," he mumbled back. "Maintain flank speed and bearing, bring the guns to engage the enemy battlecruiser!"

The crew obeyed with swiftness. The gun batteries of the Warrior traversed to face to port as the Warrior raced into position, throwing herself and her escorts between the Mishima and her foe.


HIJMS Mishima


Captain Nakayama Yoshiro watched the Cascadian vessel interpose itself between Mishima and his prey. Any Japanese officer would recognize the storied old ship, the Warrior, and her profile. A part of him was philosophical, almost sad, at the thought of sinking the progenitor of his own Mishima.

But sink she would. He would give the old battler a death worthy of her. "Target the enemy battlecruiser," he ordered, and all obeyed. It would be foolish to give the Warrior free shots at him while he went for vessels he could sink at leisure.



CRS Warrior


The clock on the bridge showed 0640 when the first salvo blazed from Warrior's main battery. Andrews counted the seconds until the waterspouts erupted around the enemy ship. Black puffs appeared around it as Warrior rumbled again, her main battery firing once more.
The entire ship vibrated with an explosion of flame and steel. "Rear structure's been hit!", a voice cried. That Mishima had wounded his ship.

But now Andrews saw, via his viewing glasses, two plumes of flame erupt from the enemy ship "Two hits recorded on enemy ship," a viewing officer reported.





Later logs would show some of the specific times for the fight, as the time approached 0700. The outgunned Warrior continued to duel her heavier opponent while the sun started to shine through the clouds over their heads. Andrews knew his ship was unlikely to survive a long fight. He had no speed to disengage, he lacked the firepower to quickly kill the Mishima besides a lucky shot, and as the ship continued to shake and rumble and vibrate beneath him, he knew she was taking deadly wounds as the fight went on. Just as the clock showed 0700, a pair of 14" shells crashed yet again into Warrior. Her superstructure and belt-end armor took the hit and the bridge shook viciously. A blast rocked the bow turret and damaged its machinery. Andrews cursed at that - his outgunned ship had just lost half of her firepower. "I want full priority on the turret, dammit!"



"Sir, many of our parties are dealing with flooding from the belt hits…"

Andrews turned upon the officer who gave that report, his face nearly as red as his hair. "Damn the leaks, man, we're going down anyway! I need those guns firing! I need them firing until she sinks!"

His words were fierce, and they galvanized instead of demoralized. The Warrior's survival was unlikely, but if they could hold the enemy battlecruiser long enough, help from Saipan might yet arrive. The Warrior's crew obeyed his orders, and efforts were focused on keeping the guns firing on the enemy Mishima.

Afterward there were moments of hope. His officers confirmed his own observation when a blast erupted from near the bow of the enemy battlecruiser. One of their shells had knocked out the Mishima's superimposed bow turret. They weren't quite so outgunned now.



HIJMS Mishima

Captain Nakayama remained stoic as the Mishima grappled with her foe. Warrior was fighting to the death, and with all of the courage he would hope to show in a similar situation. A lost turret to her, and other hits that damaged his ship, were testament to the Cascadians' skill. But Japan was not without skill of her own, and he would not prove unworthy of his Emperor and his nation.

Again and again his 14" guns fired, and again and again, some would hit. The Warrior was slowing as her machinery, damaged, proved incapable of maintaining her speed, and that made his gunners' jobs easier. Indeed, he expected to have her sunk within half an hour.

"Captain, new contact, bearing 145!"

Nakayama looked away from where Warrior was suffering his guns and toward the direction to the southeast. In the distance a new arrival was steaming their way. "Bring aft guns to bear!", he called out. "Open fire!"



CRS Warrior

Andrews could feel his ship dying beneath him. She wasn't dying alone as every Japanese shell was maiming and killing his blue-grayjackets. He had his binoculars in a death grip while scanning the enemy ship visually, its guns becoming more and more accurate as Warrior's wounds slowed her.

Doubt filled him. Had it been for nothing? Would his ship's death be for nothing, would the Mishima-class vessel pummelling his Warrior move on and slaughter the helpless troop ships Warrior was dying to protect? Had he miscalculated by throwing his venerable old ship into this situation?

I had to, he thought, while another shell slammed into the ship and threatened to knock him off his feet from how close it hit. I couldn't run from this fight.

And then Fredericks spoke up. "Sir, contact to the southeast. We're getting her on wireless… it's the Intrepid!"

At that news, Andrews' heart lifted, even as his ship died below his feet.



CRS Intrepid

Captain Luis Alvarez had his own binoculars sweeping the horizon. In the distance was the contact. Shells rained down harmlessly around his shining new battlecruiser as the CRS Intrepid steamed ahead at thirty-one knots to bring her 16"-er guns to bear upon the enemy.

"Sir, wireless from Warrior," reported Lieutenant John Higgins. "She's taken grave damage. She won't last much longer."

Alvarez nodded. With the distance, he wasn't sure he could save the old ship either. But even if he didn't… "Signal to Captain Swann on the Interceptor. We are engaging."

"Yes sir."



HIJMS Mishima

Captain Nakayama was seeing more and more of the profile of the enemy ship racing up from the Marianas. And he didn't like what he saw.

"Hand me the profile cards we have of the Cascadian battle fleet," he ordered an officer. The young Lieutenant obeyed and he looked over the cards, then the ship sailing toward them.

The ship could be any of the latest classes of Cascadian battlecruiser. The Aurora-class, the Gallant-class, and the Intrepid-class had all employed two triple turrets in the bow. But the shape of the conning tower and superstructure he was seeing… he was more and more certain that he was looking at an Intrepid-class.

He couldn't stop the very small smile that came to his face. One of his officers noticed. "Sir?"

"We are now in our enemy's place," he mumbled, even as he considered that his damaged ship, missing two of eight 14" guns, was going to face the newest of the Cascadian battlecruisers, which had 4 knots on him and a battery of nine 16" guns.

But he said nothing more on the matter. "All ships, move north," he said.

Even if he were to die, if they could take out the convoy… then this mission would still be a success.



CRS Warrior

Hope came to the bridge of the Warrior as the Mishima began to turn from them to deal with the deadly new foe coming at them from the south.

But at least one turret kept firing on them.

At 0738, Andrews and his officers felt another shell crash into the waterline of the battered Warrior. Armor failed, hull failed, and the sea rushed into the compartments below the main deck. Andrews could imagine the screams of his sailors as the sea claimed them.

There was a perceptible change in the ship's balance. She had taken on tons of water from all of the hits to her waterline.

Too much water.

"Do you feel that, Fredericks?", he mumbled. "We're done."

"Sir?"

Michaels put a hand on the rail beside him. "She's seen a lot of battles, my boy. And today she's seen her last. Our Warrior's hurting, and the sea is coming to claim her." He reached for the new wired system installed in the last refit. "Attention all hands, this is Captain Michaels speaking. We've fought our fight and our ship's done what she can. But the sea has her, my boys. The sea has her." He swallowed and, to the bridge crew, it seemed like he had to muster the courage to speak what he knew had to be spoken, as if the mere act was giving him great pain. "All hands, abandon ship. I repeat, all hands, abandon ship."

At that order, the signalmen ran up the appropriate flag from what was left of the signals mast, to let the rest of their force know.

Nineteen years of service, a half-dozen battles for her country, and now it was over.

The battlecruiser CRS Warrior, first of her kind, was sinking.



CRS Leonard H. McCoy

The lead destroyer of her kind was maneuvering sharply. Her five inch guns blazed away toward the Japanese destroyers harrying her and the rest of the Cascadian force. On her bridge Commander Kevin MacIntosh spied his optics upon the stricken Warrior. "She's sinking," he muttered. "By God, the Japs have killed her."

"Sir?", asked Lieutenant Hopkins, one of his bridge officers.

"She was my first posting, Lieutenant," MacIntosh sighed. The thin, dark-haired man from Coos Bay sucked in a breath. "Helm, bring us up alongside. We're taking her survivors aboard."

"Aye sir."

Lieutenant Commander Bruce Finch, the Executive Officer, gave him a steady look . "Are we sure that's wise, sir? We'll be sitting ducks for the Japs."

"I'm not leaving those men to drown," barked MacIntosh. "Signal the rest of the squadron, we're moving to take on survivors."

"Aye sir," another man said. Finch nodded and turned away.



The McCoy moved into place to begin taking on survivors from Warrior: nearby the Kelley was keeping her course to assist, keeping the enemy off of the McCoy during the laborious process.



CRS Intrepid

Captain Alvarez received notification of the Warrior's fate somberly. "She was a good ship," he murmured. "I made Lieutenant Commander on her crew during the last war. I remember the Battles of the Baltics, Helgoland, and Texel."

"Sir?"

"Nothing, Lieutenant, just the musing of an aging sailor." Alvarez turned to the business at hand.

The Intrepid and Interceptor, with the 1500T destroyers Harriet Tubman and Franklin, bore down on the Japanese force as it tried to steam northward, presumably to renew the assault on the convoy. The main guns on the two battlecruisers began to thunder with gouts of flame and power that rattled the deckplates beneath Alvarez.

Return fire was made on the Intrepid, but she would not be denied. Salvoes fired, minute after minute, and sometimes they would be rewarded by a plume of flame and steel from the Japanese warship that had sunk the Warrior.



HIJMS Mishima

Nakayama's plight was now the same that he had inflicted upon Michaels. 16" shells rained down on his beleaguered warship - when they hit, it was with thunderous fury, blasting steel and flesh and ripping wounds into the Mishima for the sea to rush into.

The Mishima slowed, and slowed, every hit seeming to make her slower until she was dead in the water. "Severe damage to the engineering section, Captain," the report came. "Flooding is preventing repairs."

"Send to our escorts; break off from Mishima and attack the enemy convoy." Nakayama sighed and went over to his table. Despite all the rattling, the tea-cup he'd been enjoying before the battle was still intact, kept in the little bin he'd had bolted to his work area so it wouldn't be rattled to the floor. He quietly sipped at the brew while, around him, shells rained down on his dying ship.



By 0750, the Mishima was sinking, but so slowly that her own captain wasn't sure of it. Some of the crew jumped into the water, others remained, and the ship fought on.

So did her escorts. One of the destroyers, moving to obey Nakayama's orders, nevertheless fired a torpedo spread toward the Cascadian reinforcements.



CRS Intrepid

"Torpedo!"

"Hard to starboard!"

Alvarez's order came too late to avoid them all. One of the torpedoes slammed into the Intrepid and exploded. The battlecruiser slowed as, below them, men screamed and ran and acted, trying to stop the flooding, or to escape the flooded sections before they were left to drown in them.

"Damn," the Captain of the ship muttered. With Intrepid's torpedo defenses the blow wasn't severe, and even the flooding was lighter than it would have been otherwise, but a torpedo hit was still a moment of danger for a ship. The damage was going to slow Intrepid.

Not that she needed speed to finish off the Mishima. The Japanese vessel wasn't striking, and he couldn't tell if she were sinking yet or not, so he continued to fire upon her.




At 0820 hours, Captain Nakayama and much of his crew died in a fireball. One of the shells from their attackers had found a surviving turret - the resulting flash fire descended into her magazines. The Mishima, slayer of Warrior, was blown apart in the resulting explosion. The battlecruiser's shattered form quickly slid into the ocean. The Harriet Tubman picked up what survivors she could find.



CRS Richland

It took over an hour before Clarkson saw the Warrior's stern disappear below the surface of the Pacific. He didn't know if Captain Michaels had made it off yet. Until then, he had to assume he was commanding the squadron now. He signaled to Alvarez by wireless that he had taken command.



An enemy destroyer had already been crippled by their fire. Now Clarkson renewed the offensive, aggressively pursuing the Japanese ships. A second destroyer, the Numakaze-type, was in his sights, divided from its comrade by the flow of the battle. The Richland pursued her wounded quarry with seeming vindictiveness.

At 0910 he got confirmation from the McCoy: Captain Michaels had departed the sinking ship at 0831 local time. Appropriately, he was the last man off the Warrior, jumping into a launch sent by Commander MacIntosh for him. It had taken time to recover him, with the Warrior's survivors crowding the destroyer's decks, and he confirmed Clarkson's decision: he was in control for the time being.

Clarkson made good on that. The enemy destroyers were his for the taking. The Numakaze suffered first: before 1000 came she was a burning wreck, possibly sinking, and definitely crippled. The last enemy destroyer fled as best as she could with her wounded engines.



Richland pursued with the vindictiveness and tenacity of a wounded bulldog. By about 1030 Clarkson's cruiser was coming up beside the enemy Yakaze-class destroyer.



At 1038, his gunners earned their money. Eleven shells, 6" and 3", pounded the Yakaze in rapid succession. The result wrecked her.



And with that, the Battle of the Philippine Sea was over.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Damn, even though I knew it was coming, reading Warrior's last fight was sad.

On the plus side, I made Commander, Battle Fleet. So there's that.

[Raesene]

Very nice!

Well written, both the part at home and those at sea.

[Nephtys]

I just caught up with this thread--- quite a lot of fun! Please do continue, I'm enjoying everything you're putting out so far